On attend avec impatience chacune des innovations du web participatif… Mais là on atteint un sommet rarement atteint. La Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition vient de lancer un nouveau dispositif participatif : tout citoyen américain peut désormais participer à la surveillance de la frontière avec le Mexique et signaler par mail tout ce qui lui semble illégal ou suspicieux. Dans le texte, ça donne :

Citizens can sign up as Virtual Texas Deputies^SM to participate in border surveillance through this social network. Virtual Texas Deputies^SM from around the country will monitor the streaming video from these cameras 24/7 and report any suspicious activities directly to the Border Sheriffs via email. All emails regarding suspicious activity will be submitted anonymously.

The Public, acting as Virtual Texas Deputies^SM, is limited to reporting suspicious activities via email. Local county Sheriffs will respond to these reports, conduct all investigations, and take appropriate actions. This service will provide millions of dollars in benefits to local border Sheriffs, with the public acting as additional pairs of eyes for Deputies on the ground. This extra surveillance will allow the public to directly participate in reducing crime and improving their communities. It is a well-established fact that citizen involvement in community watch programs such as this one reduces crime.

Another facet of this program is the ability of the public to connect their own cameras to www.BlueServo.net to create local Virtual Neighborhood WatchesSM in order to protect their own homes, neighborhoods, and families from criminal acts. These Virtual Neighborhood Watches^SM can, in turn, be connected to form additional Virtual Community Watches^SM.

Le site propose ainsi une série de caméras de surveillance. Et chaque caméra est accompagnée de ce qui est attendu du citoyen surveillant :

Comme s’amusait à le dire Philippe Meyer, “nous vivons une époque moderne. Le progrès fait rage”.

PS : Site signalé par Mr_VICTOR.