Logo

They want Big Brother out of their bedroom!

A Brooklyn couple is suing the NYPD over a surveillance camera that allegedly points directly into their bedroom and living room — saying it violates their constitutional rights and is part of a system that intrudes on “the private lives of millions.”

Pamela Wridt and Robert Sauve, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, say the police camera aimed at their green apartment building on Herkimer Street has forced them to cover their windows to find any privacy.

“[They] live under the constant gaze of DAS surveillance as the NYPD mounted a box with two cameras directly outside their home, aimed at their living room and bedroom windows,” the lawsuit states.


  The couple claims the camera and city’s larger “Domain Awareness System” camera violates their First and Fourth Amendment rights. Christopher Sadowski The couple claims the camera and city’s larger “Domain Awareness System” camera violates their First and Fourth Amendment rights. Christopher Sadowski

“The cameras’ presence has transformed what should be their place of safety into a space of anxiety. They have covered their windows with foil to block the cameras’ view, depriving themselves of sunlight and the simple enjoyment of looking outside.”

The couple claims the camera and the city’s larger “Domain Awareness System” — which includes stationary cameras and ones mounted on drones and helicopters —  violates their First and Fourth Amendment rights to privacy and free expression.

“You are being watched,” declares the lawsuit — which is the first of its kind to challenge the department’s sprawling surveillance system.

“Today, throughout New York City, the police are monitoring, tracking, and cataloguing you. Nearly everywhere. Nearly all the time,” states the lawsuit, filed Monday in New York federal court.

The camera in question near the couple’s home is mounted on a pole on the sidewalk across from their apartment, and appears to also pick up footage from other homes on the block.

Previous lawsuits have targeted smaller aspects of the NYPD’s $3 billion surveillance system but the couple’s case focuses on the broader constitutional harm, according to the Intercept, which was first to report the suit.


  The NYPD also uses surveillance footage from drones. Paul Martinka The NYPD also uses surveillance footage from drones. Paul Martinka

“It is an unprecedented violation of American life and now stands as one of the largest surveillance networks operated anywhere in the world,” the suit states. “Aggregated data enables the NYPD to uncover constitutionally protected activity….such as political expression, religious practice, or private association, that would be unknowable from any single source.”

“[THE NYPD] collects the identity, location, banking details, vehicle information, social media activity, and friend groups of all who live in or enter the city. It combines these entries with civil and criminal records and converts them into digital profiles, reconstructing, in effect, the private lives of millions. It is virtually impossible to avoid,” the lawsuit states.

Albert Fox Cahn, a lawyer for the couple, said the case is disturbing for all New Yorkers.

“Regardless of what you think about the NYPD, it should be chilling to think that in New York City, in the US, in a democracy, that you would have to second guess how you live your life on your own property, because, you know, a government agency installs a camera,” he told The Post.

“Suddenly, the places you can go in your own home and feel private, shrink tremendously. New York City apartments feel small enough to begin with — it’s suffocating when you also feel like you’re sharing your home with the NYPD,” he said.

Andrew Wilson, who is also a lawyer for the couple, called the NYPD’s surveillance system “dystopian.”

“This camera is the tip of a technological surveillance iceberg,” he said. “What we have now is a dystopian surveillance machine, and the case is brought to try to bring some control to one of the world’s most sophisticated, elaborate, pervasive surveillance machines.”

It wasn’t immediately clear why the camera was mounted in the location across from the apartment on Herkimer Street.

The NYPD didn’t immediately return a request for comment Wednesday. 

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy