Post by KC on Jan 24, 2006 21:47:25 GMT -5
Proposed surveillance system runs automated background checks as vehicles enter town
April 15, 2004 - Manalapan, FL -- When this affluent island town, where two burglaries a year is the norm, was hit with a trio of heists in a just a few months, officials decided to put a stop to the crime wave by installing a surveillance system that eventually could track every person who drives into town.
Cameras would record drivers' faces and license plates, and software could use the tag numbers to automatically check -- in just a few seconds -- whether a motorist is wanted by authorities or driving a stolen car, Police Chief Clay Walker said.
Walker said he hopes the new system would make the 321 residents of his town, east of Lantana and Boynton Beach, a little safer. But American Civil Liberties Union attorney Jim Green said -- though probably legal -- it would be a scary invasion of privacy.
"Having Big Brother kind of surveillance cameras on us every time we come and go is, at least to me, a truly frightening specter," he said. "It's truly Orwellian."
Retired Manalapan resident Marion Pulis said she thinks the new cameras are a good idea that would deter crime. And she said she isn't worried about them compromising her privacy.
"If wanted or something like that or if they have a background to be checked, they just won't go in," Pulis said. "I'd just have to make sure that I'm dressed up to go out to the mailbox."
Town commissioners are expected to vote April 29 whether to spend about $50,000 to install the surveillance system at the single entrance to a section of town called Point Manalapan, where most residents live, Commissioner Basil Diamond said. If it works well there, Walker said, he hopes the town would add cameras at all its entries, including along the highly traveled State Road A1A.
There already is a video camera in the guardhouse at the entrance to Point Manalapan. It records images of passing cars, but it can't do what the new system would be able to do, Walker said.
The new cameras would be able to get clear images of license plates day and night, rain or shine, Walker said. In two to three seconds, a computer would scan the images, recognize the license-plate number and run it through a Florida Department of Law Enforcement database of stolen cars, he said. If the system makes a match, police officers immediately would be alerted so they could catch the suspects.
Cameras would record drivers' faces and license plates, and software could use the tag numbers to automatically check -- in just a few seconds -- whether a motorist is wanted by authorities or driving a stolen car, Police Chief Clay Walker said.
Walker said he hopes the new system would make the 321 residents of his town, east of Lantana and Boynton Beach, a little safer.
But American Civil Liberties Union attorney Jim Green said -- though probably legal -- it would be a scary invasion of privacy.
The town also might set up the system to run the license plate numbers through a watch list so police would be alerted if vehicles with plates matching those numbers entered the town, Walker said.
Each day's list of vehicles entering town probably would be saved for about 90 days, Walker said. That way, if a crime, such as a recent $400,000 jewelry burglary, was reported, police could look back through records to see who had been in town during that time period, he said.
Walker said he realizes the system might face criticism from the ACLU and other groups. But he and Diamond said there's no reason for residents to be upset.
"It's just taking a picture of what anybody could see, of what anybody could take a picture of, if they were standing there," Diamond said. "There's no technology looking in the trunk or anything."
Cameras that snap pictures of license plates of red light-runners and toll- dodgers are becoming increasingly common. And systems that run those tag numbers through databases are catching on fast, too, said Craig Cantrell, chief operating officer of PIPS Technology, which makes license plate-recognition software.
In some places, authorities use cameras at intersections to keep an eye out for people wanted by police, Cantrell said. In others, gated communities use the technology for "access control," deciding by license plate number whether or not a driver is welcome, he said.
April 15, 2004 - Manalapan, FL -- When this affluent island town, where two burglaries a year is the norm, was hit with a trio of heists in a just a few months, officials decided to put a stop to the crime wave by installing a surveillance system that eventually could track every person who drives into town.
Cameras would record drivers' faces and license plates, and software could use the tag numbers to automatically check -- in just a few seconds -- whether a motorist is wanted by authorities or driving a stolen car, Police Chief Clay Walker said.
Walker said he hopes the new system would make the 321 residents of his town, east of Lantana and Boynton Beach, a little safer. But American Civil Liberties Union attorney Jim Green said -- though probably legal -- it would be a scary invasion of privacy.
"Having Big Brother kind of surveillance cameras on us every time we come and go is, at least to me, a truly frightening specter," he said. "It's truly Orwellian."
Retired Manalapan resident Marion Pulis said she thinks the new cameras are a good idea that would deter crime. And she said she isn't worried about them compromising her privacy.
"If wanted or something like that or if they have a background to be checked, they just won't go in," Pulis said. "I'd just have to make sure that I'm dressed up to go out to the mailbox."
Town commissioners are expected to vote April 29 whether to spend about $50,000 to install the surveillance system at the single entrance to a section of town called Point Manalapan, where most residents live, Commissioner Basil Diamond said. If it works well there, Walker said, he hopes the town would add cameras at all its entries, including along the highly traveled State Road A1A.
There already is a video camera in the guardhouse at the entrance to Point Manalapan. It records images of passing cars, but it can't do what the new system would be able to do, Walker said.
The new cameras would be able to get clear images of license plates day and night, rain or shine, Walker said. In two to three seconds, a computer would scan the images, recognize the license-plate number and run it through a Florida Department of Law Enforcement database of stolen cars, he said. If the system makes a match, police officers immediately would be alerted so they could catch the suspects.
Cameras would record drivers' faces and license plates, and software could use the tag numbers to automatically check -- in just a few seconds -- whether a motorist is wanted by authorities or driving a stolen car, Police Chief Clay Walker said.
Walker said he hopes the new system would make the 321 residents of his town, east of Lantana and Boynton Beach, a little safer.
But American Civil Liberties Union attorney Jim Green said -- though probably legal -- it would be a scary invasion of privacy.
The town also might set up the system to run the license plate numbers through a watch list so police would be alerted if vehicles with plates matching those numbers entered the town, Walker said.
Each day's list of vehicles entering town probably would be saved for about 90 days, Walker said. That way, if a crime, such as a recent $400,000 jewelry burglary, was reported, police could look back through records to see who had been in town during that time period, he said.
Walker said he realizes the system might face criticism from the ACLU and other groups. But he and Diamond said there's no reason for residents to be upset.
"It's just taking a picture of what anybody could see, of what anybody could take a picture of, if they were standing there," Diamond said. "There's no technology looking in the trunk or anything."
Cameras that snap pictures of license plates of red light-runners and toll- dodgers are becoming increasingly common. And systems that run those tag numbers through databases are catching on fast, too, said Craig Cantrell, chief operating officer of PIPS Technology, which makes license plate-recognition software.
In some places, authorities use cameras at intersections to keep an eye out for people wanted by police, Cantrell said. In others, gated communities use the technology for "access control," deciding by license plate number whether or not a driver is welcome, he said.