ST. LOUIS (KMOX) — A privacy rights group warns civil liberties will suffer if the city of St. Louis agrees to put private surveillance planes in the sky.
Supporters say the three planes flying 40 hours a week over the city would allow police to review tapes of crimes, retrace the steps of suspects, and make arrests.
A wealthy benefactor is offering to give the city the program "free" for three years.
John Chasnoff of the group Privacy Watch STL said the planes could capture all kinds of data on ordinary people — where you go to the doctor, where you go to worship, where you go to a political demonstration.
"We have a standard that we only surveil people who are, for some reason, under suspicion," Chasnoff said. "But these are average, everyday citizens going about their business, who have done nothing wrong, but suddenly they're being surveilled by the government."
Aldermen on the Public Safety Committee heard a presentation on the plan earlier this week, but no authorizing board bill has been introduced and no action was taken.
Mayor Lyda Krewson's office is scheduled to meet with the company next week to find out more.
Chasnoff said, unlike the proposed police body cameras, the Eye in the Sky data would be owned by the company, not the city.
"We have very little control, then, over that data — how it's used for commercial or other purposes," Chasnoff said.