In the last few weeks, a handful of towns in Rhode Island have parted ways with Flock traffic cameras. Some communities have cited concerns over privacy rights as the driving force behind the canceled contracts. 

It is a slightly different story in Barrington. 

A few months ago, members of the Barrington Town Council authorized the installation of speed cameras on roads near local schools. And in late July, members of the Barrington Parks and Recreation Commission shared their recommendation with the council to install surveillance cameras at four parks in town — Haines, Sherwood, Chianese and Veterans Memorial Park. 

There are reasons behind both initiatives. For the speed cameras, the council has pointed to data which shows that many vehicles traveling through school zones in Barrington do so well above the speed limit. Councilors believe the speed cameras will result in slower vehicle speeds and safer environments for students, staff and the public in general. For the surveillance cameras, Parks and Recreation Commission members are trying to thwart vandalism. They can offer multiple incidents across town — most recently, someone spray-painted the brand new well-pump houses at the renovated Haines Park athletic fields. 

We are opposed to more cameras in Barrington. We are actually opposed to more cameras everywhere, and the seemingly endless creep toward a surveillance state, where everything we do is captured on video. And it’s not just government-sponsored cameras. It’s doorbell cameras, drone cameras, cameras in cars, cameras in satellites, cameras in the shopping center, cameras on the East Bay Bike Path. The list goes on and on. 

Some may argue that more cameras will lead to more safety. We are not so sure. It seems, at least to us, that more cameras lead to more cameras, and that leads to a growing feeling that we need to be filming everything all at one, every moment of every day. 

Maybe Barrington can take a different approach, at least when it comes to our parks. Maybe we can just keep them as parks — places where people can walk their dogs, play ball with their kids, or sit and read a book … without having to be captured on camera.