NYC Surveillance

NYC: London-style Surveillance

Posted by samc on July 9th, 2007

C/Net reports New York City will have more than 100 cameras monitoring cars moving through Lower Manhattan by the end of the year. It’s the beginning phase of a London-style surveillance system that would be the first in the United States, reports C/Net.

The Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, as the plan is called, will resemble London’s so-called ring of steel, an extensive web of cameras and roadblocks designed to detect, track and deter terrorists. British officials said images captured by the cameras helped track suspects after the London subway bombings in 2005 and the car bomb plots last month.

The city obtained $25 million toward the estimated $90 million cost of the plan with $15 million from Homeland Security grants, and another $10 million from the city, more than enough to install 116 license plate readers in fixed and mobile locations, including cars and helicopters, in the coming months.

The readers have been ordered, and Kelly said he hoped the rest of the money would come from additional federal grants. Recently NYPD purchased more than 400 Bell Helicopters. The choppers are equipped with mapping, tracking and surveillance technology that make it easier to stealthily observe the goings-on at city landmarks and transportation hubs.

It will help safeguard bridges, tunnels, and infrastructure, according to The City. The Police Department is still considering whether to use face recognition technology, an inexact science that matches images against those in an electronic database, or biohazard detectors in its Lower Manhattan network.

The license plate readers would check the plates’ numbers and send out alerts if suspect vehicles were detected. The city is already seeking state approval to charge drivers a fee to enter Manhattan below 86th Street, which would require the use of license plate readers. If the plan is approved, the police will most likely collect information from those readers too, Kelly said.

But the downtown security plan involves much more than keeping track of license plates. By the end of 2008, 3,000 surveillance cameras would be installed below Canal Street, about two-thirds of them owned by downtown companies. Some of those are already in place. Pivoting gates would be installed at critical intersections; they would swing out to block traffic or a suspect car at the push of a button.

The Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet) surveillance system, a network of 1,800 towers along the Mexican border houses infrared cameras, radar and communication equipment.

In September, DHS awarded Boeing the SBInet contract, worth an estimated $2.5 billion. Last month, the company tested nine 98-foot towers panning 28 miles of the border southwest of Tucson, Arizona.

source : dailywireless.org