New York City’s latest addition of about 500 cameras went live today, and are now currently feeding info from some of the city’s busiest hubs to the NYPD’s surveillance network.
The cameras were installed in places like Times Square and Grand Central station, and will be monitored by special software that automatically detects odd behavior. The software reduces the amount of manpower needed to monitor the great number of surveillance cameras, and can alert police as needed. Suspicious behavior detected by the software includes objects staying in one place for an inordinate amount of time. If there was a suspect reported to have been wearing a red shirt, the software could also identify all the people wearing red shirts in the vicinity.
Naturally, the ACLU has some complaints about civil liberties being violated – but NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that the freedoms exchanged are far better, including the right to live in a safe environment. We tend to agree with the Mayor.
Source: AP
September 20th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Great news! how do we get these cameras in my neighborhood?