Big Brother Wants You: Chicage: Mayor outlines elaborate camera network for city

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> Friday, September 10, 2004 1:15 PM

> Mayor outlines elaborate camera network for

> city

>

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-040909cameras,1,5339383.story?coll=\

chi-news-hed

>

> Mayor outlines elaborate camera network for city

>

> By Tara Burghart,The Associated Press, 09/09/04

>

> The city plans to link more than 2,000 public

> surveillance cameras in a network that would use

> sophisticated software to alert authorities to

> potential crimes or acts of terrorism, Mayor Richard

> Daley said Thursday.

>

> The project involves cameras in public spaces such

> as streets, sidewalks, schools and airports. Private

> companies eventually could choose to join their

> cameras to the network for use in emergency response

> situations, Daley said.

>

> " Cameras are the equivalent of hundreds of sets of

> eyes. They are the next best thing to having police

> officers stationed at every potential trouble

> spot,'' Daley said.

>

> The project, to be paid for with a $5.1 million

> federal homeland security grant, is not expected to

> be in use until the spring of 2006.

>

> Daley scoffed at concerns about invading people's

> privacy. He said the aim of the cameras is improving

> safety and that all of the city's cameras would be

> located in public spots.

>

> City officials said the bulk of the network's

> cameras already are in use at O'Hare International

> Airport, on the city's transit lines and in public

> housing buildings, parks and schools, along with 30

> police are using to try to curb violent crime.

>

> An additional 250 surveillance cameras still to be

> bought will raise the number available to more than

> 2,000, said Ron Huberman, executive director of the

> city's Office of Emergency Management. The locations

> for the new cameras have not been determined.

>

> The cameras wouldn't all be continuously monitored.

>

> Software would be used to pick up out-of-the

> ordinary activity on the incoming video images --

> such as a bag being abandoned in a stairwell, a car

> pulling to the side of a highway, or movement in an

> area off-limits to people.

>

> When the software noted such suspicious behavior, it

> would alert staff members monitoring the cameras and

> they could notify police, medical personnel or a tow

> truck -- whatever the situation called for.

>

> Operators in the 911 center would also be able to

> learn whether a camera exists in the area when they

> receive a call, then be able to control the image to

> help direct aid to a victim or gather evidence for

> police, officials said.

>

> Daley said private companies could choose to join

> their cameras to the network -- for a

> yet-to-be-determined fee -- so that 911 operators

> would have access to those cameras should something

> go awry in a private building.

>

> State Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) said Americans

> don't realize how often they are being monitored.

> His proposal to limit the number of surveillance

> cameras installed by police failed in the General

> Assembly during the latest session.

>

> Hendon said he believes cameras can be valuable when

> placed at potential terrorist targets, such as

> airports or water plants, but he believes too many

> are located in black and Hispanic neighborhoods.

>

> " We can have police protection without spying on

> people who are doing nothing wrong,'' he said.

>

> Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil

> Liberties Union in Illinois, said his group is not

> concerned about the city's cameras as long as they

> are recording activity in public spaces.

>

> But he said the effects of the boom in closed

> circuit monitoring is something citizens probably

> should debate because surveillance cameras are often

> portrayed " as a panacea'' to problems like crime.

>

> City officials said they studied surveillance

> systems used by Las Vegas casinos, along with the

> Department of Defense and the City of London, where

> it's widely estimated that the average Briton is

> scrutinized by 300 cameras a day.

>

> The Baltimore region is also trying to build a

> network of around-the-clock surveillance cameras,

> and other cities have placed cameras during big

> downtown events.

>

> The Chicago system would exceed existing projects in

> how it would tie cameras to emergency operations,

> Huberman said.

>

> Huberman said the Chicago camera network would not

> incorporate face-recognition technology. Tampa

> police tried the tactic -- designed to recognize

> potential terrorists and criminals by matching

> people on the street with a database of mug shots --

> but abandoned it after two years, citing its failure

> to recognize anyone wanted by authorities. >

>

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