Denver criminal defense lawyer / taxis on patrol

I heard a colleague who's also a Denver criminal defense lawyer complaining about the taxis on patrol program. He was saying that he passed a cab, the cab followed him and taped him, and as a result he got a citation. The implication here was that basically the taxi program was turning things into a police state where our rights were not protected. As such, any Denver criminal defense lawyer should be against such a program. I'm not so sure I agree. I'm the first to defend measures that protect civil liberties. But after some research, I'm not so sure the taxis program does any such thing.

Basically what taxis on patrol does is give taxis access to the police radio system. That gives them an avenue to report crimes. That's basically it. They can't really arrest people (unless they want to do a citizen's arrest like everybody else). There is no real indication that they have been given any special equipment. I found no verification that these taxis had cameras or anything of the sort. Just a radio hookup, so they can report criminal activity. Isn't this more like giving an 8 year old an honorary sheriff's badge and telling him to report anything he sees? And shouldn't taxis call the police when they see bad stuff happen anyway (just like ordinary citizens, heh)?

The only thing I see in this program is a sort of silly bid for publicity by both the cops and taxi companies. The police always are looking for ways to appear tough on crime. Sure, the crime rate has been sliding for nearly two decades now. Even so, people are still afraid of crime, and like measures that make the police look tough. In exchange for linking with this program, YellowCab and the others get their names out there in a positive light. If one of these cabs catches a huge fugitive or dangerous person, then that will be even greater publicity. This benefit really accrues simply from letting their employees do what every citizen should do: report bad stuff that's happening on the streets. So no, I don't think the taxis on patrol program is much of a civil liberties issue.