Boston will be adding dozens of new security cameras for the Democrat National Convention. They'll be watching the public and monitored by local and federal authorities, reports the Boston Globe. Of course, once the Convention is over they'll all be taken down, right? Well, not exactly.

While video surveillance has become a common tool for police and private security personnel, Boston police and federal officials concede that the additional cameras and new technology represent another chapter in Boston. And it's here to stay: Boston police say the 30 or so cameras installed for the convention will be used throughout the city once the event is over.

''We own them now," said police Superintendent Robert Dunford. ''We're certainly not going to put them in a closet."

Government officials are promising that they are only interested in criminal activity and will not be using the cameras to "snoop" on anyone. They also announced that they have several large lots of swampland in Florida that they are trying to sell.

UPDATE: On a related note...