When did you decide this?

Jason Williams has decided that maybe we shouldn't turn downtown New Orleans into a great big police panopticon after all.

New Orleans City Councilman Jason Williams announced at a Wednesday meeting that he is pumping the brakes on a contract that would add 146 new public video cameras with audio capability until the council can craft and pass a comprehensive ordinance to regulate the use of surveillance technologies in New Orleans.

“It’s important that we be extremely concerned about the unintentional impacts that can come from a well meaning initiative,” he said. “The technology is moving so much faster than government and our regulations.”

It is important that we be extremely concerned about this.  Many of us have been extremely concerned for a very long time, in fact. When did Jason come aboard? 

Williams said that the election of President Donald Trump and the progression of surveillance around the world have changed his views.

“When we had those initial conversations, the President of the United States was Barack Obama,” he said during the meeting. “After that election and the awareness of the footage retrieval and data retrieval that might have been used in a way that the previous administration wouldn’t have used them. Changes in immigration policy have led to concerns for several council members.”

Hmmm... that's not great. Maybe consider that the power to violate everyone's expectation of privacy shouldn't exist regardless of who might use it for whatever.  It's an odd little quirk of government, I know, but the person holding any particular office does change, on occasion.   Jason knows this, right? I'm sure he must.  I mean...

Williams launched his official campaign for Orleans Parish District Attorney last week, setting himself up as a progressive District Attorney candidate focused on criminal justice reform. That election happens later this year.

Last week, Williams began the process of  "setting himself up as a progressive" DA candidate. This week he suddenly thinks surveillance isn't as great as he once thought.  Surely this is pure coincidence as well.