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by bpchaps 2460 days ago
A few years back I was mugged in Chicago at a busy intersection very close to a train station. Being the FOIA nerd I am, I submitted a FOIA request for the footage of the spot I was mugged at. It came back saying that no footage exists. Probing the investigator, I was told that the camera rotates randomly, and wasn't pointed in my direction. It's very difficult for me to think of Chicago's surveillance with any sort of charity, when they can't even do a single major intersection.

Fun fact: Chicago's city hall has a retention period of zero days on its cameras. Go figure.
1 comments
marcosdumay 2459 days ago
> Chicago's city hall has a retention period of zero days on its cameras.

Does it mean that they have people watching the camera, warning the street police if they find anything, but do no recording?

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bpchaps 2459 days ago
That's my understanding, yes.
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logfromblammo 2459 days ago
Given that it's Chicago, my understanding would be that the officer handling the FOIA request fed you a line, and they probably didn't even look at any recorded video to see if the camera was pointed in the correct direction.

Did you do a follow up request for whatever that camera actually recorded while you were getting mugged?

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