Supplementary Photo Pack: Ludington Sees You Poo in Public

[XLFD]

The Bathrooms Mapped Out

 

The original story talked of three public restrooms in Ludington that had hidden cameras in them, here is a map of Ludington and the restrooms locations, followed by enough captioned pictures in order to provide the gentle reader with enough data to reach an informed decision on the matter of whether this is proper or not.  Other public restrooms exist; there is one at the South Concessions, one just south of the Loomis Boat Launch, one at Copeyon Park, and one at Cartier Park Campground.  These appear to be secure from surveillance, but I welcome anybody else to investigate and then either support or refute that premise.

 

 

Waterfront Park Restrooms

It has been said by many that these restrooms are marked so individuals know that they have surveillance cameras inside them.  That is not so.  The only sign on the outside is at the south end of the lady's room.  It says:  Notice:  24 hour surveillance caught on videotape:  Closed Circuit Television.

 

 

How do you interpret that if you don't know better?  Well, you can look at the several cameras that are on the outside of that building and decide they are talking about those, one that is within close view (look at the top of this picture)...

 

 

... because the other entrance to the same women's bathroom has no sign about surveillance:

 

 

There is no notice at all on the inside of the women's room.  On the men's side there are no signs noticing the taping of the men's room on the outside.

 

 

Inside someone looks to have put a "Surveillance Camera" sticker on the bottom part of the mirror, as if the camera itself is behind the mirror.  This is on the same eye level as boys who cannot read yet, most men wouldn't even likely notice the sign, or notice it after they did what they came into the rest room seeking privacy to do. 

 

 

Nor does the sign use the plural, being that there are two cameras in the bathroom.  The City of Ludington has made the claim that the overt (in the open, but just below the ceiling) camera is only pointed at the common areas of the bathroom.  This is the view from my camera sitting at about 3 feet above the ground while I was sitting on the toilet

 

If you zoom into their camera, you can clearly see the lens:

The view up from the urinal has it look like you're almost the center of attention:

 

 

Then when you zoom into the camera from here, you understand that you and yours is the center of attention.  Both of these photos were taken at crotch level :

 

But both of these are to be expected when you look at the picture in the original article looking down at the same angle as the overt camera.  People standing behind you at the urinal can't see you pee, but the camera can track your urine stream.  And what about that camera hidden inside the vent, where someone from the City bent the vent to open up its vantage point?   Let's stand directly in front of the toilet and look up:

 

 

Let's take a zoom in look from that exact same place:

 

 

This is troubling.  You can see the camera lens once again, which of course means it is capable of seeing you too.  This is when you are at the toilet, by a camera that has been hidden deliberately.  Very creepy.  And if you would check the hidden vent cam on the women's side, I'd bet you'd get the same sight, as the camera there looks to be pointed down at a steeper angle than the men's.  Let's remind the reader, that the City has not denied responsibility for installing these hidden cameras, or the ones at the North James facility, in fact they said they have, and it's within the law, whatever you say to the contrary because one of the City Attorneys has said there are court cases from 1989 and before that dictate how a 2004 law is to be interpreted. 

 

North James

 

Back around 15 years ago, the City of Ludington had some blowback from surveillance cameras being installed here as a deterrent to crime, particularly vandalism.  They hung signs and made the cameras visible.  Nowadays, they still have the cameras but they're not visible, and they don't have any signs, and still there is signs of vandalism at the place.  Here is outside the men's room:

 

 

And here is the lady's room entrance, with no signs except to distinguish the two genders' rooms:

 

 

When you walk into the men's room, you first notice the sink, and that the two light fixtures lenses are shattered, likely by vandalistic acts, though this is hard to make out because the lights are too intense:

 

 

As for the one lens in the vent, you lose track of the lens about 4 feet away from the urinal underneath, so you are likely safe from detection here and in the lady's section. 

 

Stearns Park, North

 

These restrooms has a device with four detection lenses in them.  City officials declined to elaborate what these devices were at the city council meeting, John Shay saying only that they were not cameras.  The acting police chief, Mike Harrie, declining an invitation by this person to go down to the Stearn's men's bathroom to make sure that a felony wasn't being committed, and to determine that these were or were not cameras. 

He declined, saying that even if they were cameras, no law had been broken according to his bosses and legal advisers.  Someone, likely Shay, told the local paper they were "humidity detectors" for automatic fans.  Later other media quoted the City as saying it was for motion detection equipment for automatic lighting, the local paper amended its story the next day to include both functions. 

And later that night, I asked for proof by giving the City a FOIA request looking to find out whether it was an innocuous device or an insidious pervert-cam pointed at the toilets of both men and women.  Tuesday, Wednesday and now Thursday has passed, and the article has achieved small viral status while John Shay decides what to do with his FOIA reply.  But in the meantime, there is no notifications on the two doors for both the men's:

 

  

Or the women's side:

 

 

So if the device with no writing on it pictured below is found to have the capability to record things, some elaborate device never accounted for in the extensive blueprints or plans, the City could really have a lot of liability on their hands from being able to record inside your stall at these brand new bathrooms, and a lot of explaining to do for those who trust the current City Manager of Ludington:

 

 

Epilog:  A New Day

 

This afternoon, two days after FOX 17 did their report, and one day after TV 9 & 10 did their report,I went out to investigate something I thought was important to add, and found that the City has added some new signs at the two downtown area restrooms.  The Waterfront Park now has all entrances marked:

 

 

And even North James has theirs marked, even on the inside:

 

 

Yet every single camera is still there, and pointed where they were before. 

You can take City Manager John Shay's word for it that the camera that is blatantly pointing at you and recording in the Waterfront Park's men's room is not pointed at you or is a dummy camera.  But if you know his track record, believe that he willfully perjured himself in court documents over substantive issues, and realize that his lawsuit over the workplace safety policy was due primarily to his actions to suppress dissent from a blogger whose goal was, and is, having a moral city government ran by someone who won't back away from taking an oath of office, then I will not point at you and call you a dummy.

[AQUAMAN]

I too went to the Waterfront Park to use the men's room today, and the door was unmarked. One mirror at the lavatory did have a new blue sign though, note though, you won't see it until your private job is done. Now, all of a sudden, they are all marked, just in the (Nick's signs?), nick of time! I also mentioned the hidden cameras to another fellow that came in after I was done with my job, and he too was shocked and alarmed by the obvious camera lenses in the bathroom, also stating "it looks like big brother is watching us everywhere now". If you review the video LPD, I plainly flipped my sign, "the Bird"!

[AQUAMAN]

Just fyi, X, great reporting again. This entire incident(s), are not only deplorable, but shameful, in any and every Reasonable respect, imho. I can't believe that "ANY" City of Ludington "official", would gladly and openly, admit to such cruel injustices of humanity, and for what? Surveillance of "Private PARTS"? For WHOSE JOLLIES?

[XLFD]

The City of Ludington must be surprised with what's developed and that unlike them, people do expect privacy when they go bathroom.  Kaye Holman walked up to Wallace Cain after the meeting,( appointed to two Ludington boards) and told him he had done a great job when he proclaimed that there is no expectation of privacy in the privy. 

If someone had a camera with a strong enough lens to take the shock, and showed up in Kaye Holman's bathroom (nightmares!) to film, I wonder if she would be so willing to give up her reasonable expectation of privacy. 

Let's also not forget that back when John Shay and the City settled the one lawsuit for $15,000, he attacked my character at the following meeting, saying that I took pictures of his house from the street, and stared at his wife and kid at school.  Both were lies meant to attack my character and had no business being said at a public meeting out of irritation of having lost the federal court case, but both also paled in comparison to what has been done during his ten year tenure in these bathrooms. 

And what is alleged to have happened this year in the north concession stand bathrooms.  Can you now understand why the City spent so much on these bathroom renovations?  Could it have been to satisfy the perverts who placed those vent pervcams and ordered smoke detector cameras?

[Willy]

At least they did respond with a few signs. That probably is all they are going to do. Picturing Holman on the john gives me premature convultulations.

[XLFD]

The competition in her last election was lacking the 'right stuff' for being elected in Ludington.

Kaye Holman has went through a strange metamorphosis, much like Mayor Henderson, through her political career in Ludington which is about to enter its second decade.  She actually had concerns for people over public servants, and good intentions when she first became councilor.  But like for most politicians, they quickly lose sight of what and who they are serving, and learn it is better and easier to look out for number one and their political brethren.

Number one and Kaye Holman.  There we go linking her to bodily functions again.