Vantucky bar monitored at 1080p

Burt Gummer · Mar 16, 2013

Friends of mine won't even go out to get a beer after work because they said the police are so over the top now it is not work it.

Well, I guess they may be right. Here, tonight, is a Vancouver Police tower, self powered on a generator, with HD IR cameras watching the Red Lion at the Quay in case you trip a bit as you walk to your car.

All on private property no less.

Well I guess people that have never had any privacy won't miss it. Soon there will be cameras in your bathroom at home. I know there will be those who say surveillance everywhere is great and it makes them safer, however, those people are idiots.

This type of thing isn't happening in China. You know, that evil place where people are so much more oppressed and spied on than we are ....

svxr8dr · Mar 16, 2013

Cuthbert Allgood · Mar 16, 2013

drinking at bars sucks anyway. the booze is watered down and as soon as you appear to be buzzed, the bartenders here in WA have to stop serving you. not all of them comply, though. see those unmarked black squad cars? yeah, those would be the liquor enforcement officers. they also act as occasional bouncers at great, classy establishments like dodge city.

in central commiefornia, the fresno police department is even worse. their overzealous chief has ordered his officers to set up DUI checkpoints at the entrance/exits of popular bars. he also has plain clothed police officers sit in bars around the city to observe people and see if they drive out of the parking lot. so if you're in a bar and are NOT drinking, you're going to have the unwanted attention of everybody in the establishment. the only way they'll leave you the hell alone is to be a well known patron's designated driver.

clambo · Mar 16, 2013

I admit that camera tower amazes me. I've lived here in Vansterdam for 4 or 5 years and based on what I've seen no one ever gets pulled over for anything, ever. You can drive like a total prick here and no one cares a bit. In fact you'll be seen as more normal. You can buy liquor at any grocery store, although at greatly inflated prices. Plus you can have your gay marriage and smoke weed too. There's a Mary Jane's House Of Glass on almost every corner. Whoever thought that up was a damn good businessman or woman.

Burt Gummer · Mar 16, 2013

It is in our DNA to be controlled sheep. Over the years I am convinced of that; no one cares anymore about any intrusion into their lives.

The greatest freedom a man can have is to be left alone. In the land of the fee and the home of the slave we simply do not have that right at all.

As it gets worse and worse on a monthly basis now, sometimes it seems it is daily. I am thankful that I am old and won't (hopefully) have to see the horrific police state that is expanding before me take over like a giant octopus.

You 20-30 somethings? - Well, you are screwed.

Ramjet12 · Mar 19, 2013

I live outside Vancouver in Clark County and I gotta go with, WTF???

There are a few good places left. I know the owners of the LowBar and it's a great place.
cold beer | food | spirits | Vancouver, Wa | Low Bar
One of the few bars I'll visit.

drew · Mar 20, 2013

Burt Gummer said:
It is in our DNA to be controlled sheep. Over the years I am convinced of that; no one cares anymore about any intrusion into their lives.

The greatest freedom a man can have is to be left alone. In the land of the fee and the home of the slave we simply do not have that right at all.

As it gets worse and worse on a monthly basis now, sometimes it seems it is daily. I am thankful that I am old and won't (hopefully) have to see the horrific police state that is expanding before me take over like a giant octopus.

You 20-30 somethings? - Well, you are screwed.

Burt you're right that the majority acquiesce privacy. I don't and realize things are going downhill.

As I've gotten older all I've wanted is to be left alone. I don't need or want someone overseeing everything I do.

Heidland · Mar 20, 2013

It's been 20+ years, but I used to work security (uniformed and plain clothes) at that friggin bar. Working the hotels was great, but the Quay Bar and the one at the old (now burned down) Thunderbird across the river were the worst. Punks and thugs overloaded on stupidity and alcohol. The first time I got stabbed, it was at the Quay.

I'm not sure if it's still as violent as it used to be, but if it is then as someone that was forever yelling at staff to call the cops while I waded in to break up a fight, a camera tower like this would have been a great deterrent back then. While I don't agree with DUI traps, or the aforementioned plain clothes spying of officers, using a tool like this camera tower in a place that is known for violence and over serving; well, that seems like common sense. [Again, the caveat to that statement is that I haven't set foot on that property since about 1993, so it make be a completely different place than the one in my experience]

Kelzebubba · Mar 20, 2013

Meh, if it is in public (plain view from city street) I don't expect a right to privacy. Now in my house with the curtains closed and blinds drawn, I expect privacy. But if it can bee seen from the street or any other publicly accessible spot I view it as fair game. Mind you I am an information seeker, I don't like being shut out either.