Great post.
I'm still wondering when AP is gonna get past the "considering" phase and
realize how
much we need something like this here and now.
Not only that, but to reference my earlier post about the porch at the Met
hotel.
How is it that people could actually be hanging out there at night, drinking,
and leaving a
huge mess without getting busted?
And how do the people that are snorting coke, heroin and crack doing that in
Liberty
Square Park at night without getting caught. I see the little drug bags in the
park all the
time. If the city is cleaning up the park, and seeing things like that, don't
they have a
responsibility to call the PD and say that we may have a problem in the park?
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "justifiedright" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
> CHICAGO (AP) - A car circles a high-rise three times. Someone leaves
> a backpack in a park. Such things go unnoticed in big cities every
> day. But that could change in Chicago with a new video surveillance
> system that would recognize such anomalies and alert authorities to
> take a closer look.
>
> On Thursday, the city and IBM Corp. are announcing the initial phase
> of what officials say could be the most advanced video security
> network in any U.S. city. The City of Broad Shoulders is getting
> eyes in the back of its head.
>
> "Chicago is really light years ahead of any metropolitan area in the
> U.S. now," said Sam Docknevich, who heads video-surveillance
> consulting for IBM.
>
> Chicago already has thousands of security cameras in use by
> businesses and police—including some equipped with devices that
> recognize the sound of a gunshot, turn the cameras toward the source
> and place a 911 call. But the new system would let cameras analyze
> images in real time 24 hours a day.
>
> "You're talking about creating (something) that knows no fatigue, no
> boredom and is absolutely focused," said Kevin Smith, spokesman for
> the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
>
> For example, the system could be programmed to alert the city's
> emergency center whenever a camera spots a vehicle matching the
> description of one being sought by authorities.
>
> The system could be programmed to recognize license plates. It could
> alert emergency officials if the same car or truck circles the Sears
> Tower three times or if nobody picks up a backpack in Grant Park
> for, say, 30 seconds.
>
> IBM says this approach might be more effective than relying on a
> bleary-eyed employee to monitor video screens. "Studies have shown
> people fall asleep," Docknevich said.
>
> It is unclear when the system will be fully operational. Existing
> cameras could be equipped with the new software, but additional
> cameras probably will be added as well, Smith said.
>
> "The complexity of the software is going to define how quickly we
> are able to do this," he said.
>
> Chicago's announcement comes as it is vying to bring the 2016 games
> to town. A purportedly security-enhancing surveillance system is
> something city officials could trumpet to International Olympic
> Committee.
>
> "The eventual goal is to have elaborate video surveillance well in
> advance of the 2016 Olympics," said Bo Larsson, CEO of Firetide
> Inc., the company providing the wireless connectivity for the
> project.
>
> Neither Smith nor IBM would reveal the cost of the network, but
> Smith said much of it would be paid by the Department of Homeland
> Security. The cost of previous surveillance efforts has run into the
> millions of dollars. Just adding devices that allow surveillance
> cameras to turn toward the sound of gunfire was as much as $10,000
> per unit.
>
> Some critics question whether such systems are effective and whether
> they could lead to an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
>
> Jonathan Schachter, a public policy lecturer at Northwestern
> University, said there are no studies that show cameras reduce
> crime. And the idea that placing cameras near "strategic assets"
> would prevent a terrorist attack is "absurd," he said.
>
> Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of
> Illinois, said he was concerned that more cameras and more
> sophisticated technology would lead to abuses of authority.
>
> "It is incumbent on the city to ensure that there are practices and
> procedures in place to sort of watch the watchers," he said
>
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