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Our friends at the ACLU of Vermont yesterday published an excellent new report, "Surveillance on the Northern Border," describing the dangerous shift in post-9/11 security policy in the Green Mountain State. Along with the report, which describes the creation of the state's fusion center, and the use of automated license plate readers, drones, face recognition, and enhanced border patrols, the ACLU produced this incredible video demonstrating all the ways in which the government tracks and monitors the behavior of ordinary people in the northern states. Note while watching it that nearly everything discussed in the clip applies to all of us in the United States, not just to our friendly neighbors in the north.

The Vermonters ask a critical question that has largely gone unasked in the decade plus since 9/11: Has the trickle down of the surveillance state to the local level, costing us billions of dollars every year, had any measurable effect on our safety?We know for a fact that the new surveillance state hurts our privacy, but there is little to no evidence to suggest that it makes us safe.

"Surveillance on the Northern Border" provides yet more evidence that the rapidly advancing surveillance state isn't only a waste of money — it is an anti-democratic threat to our most fundamental rights. Please watch and share the ACLU's compelling, short video. It's a great introduction to the subject of the post-9/11 'homeland security' transformation of our society. Interested in taking action? Click here to learn how to fight back against the trickle down of the security state to our state and local police departments.