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NEWSWIRE
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D.C. incorporates cameras in the 1,000s |
05.06.2008
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WASHINGTON--The city last week launched phase one of a massive video surveillance system with nearly 4,500 cameras being installed in public schools, public housing, traffic and government buildings that will feed into a central office at the city's homeland security and emergency management agency.
The project incorporates 24-hour monitoring of CCTV systems run by nine city agencies, reported The Washington Post. The system will be implemented in phases. By the end of the year, city officials will expand the project to homeland security, the departments of parks and recreation, corrections, health and fire and emergency medical services. The schools have the largest number of cameras, about 3,600.
By making the footage available in one place, officials hope to increase efficiency and improve public safety and emergency response.
Washington follows other large cities that have installed or are planning to install thousands of cameras to increase security. New York has announced a network of 3,000 public and private cameras to protect Lower Manhattan. Chicago's emergency management office will soon have access to more than 6,000 cameras run by schools, police and other agencies.
Technological advances that make it easy to install cameras and search video have fueled the boom, the newspaper reported.
The Washington attorney general's office is working on a policy addressing privacy rights, but it will not be finished by the system's launch. Agencies involved will follow their own rules, said Darrell Darnell, head of the city's homeland security agency.
The Washington Police Department currently uses 92 of its own cameras and they will stay under control of the department, which will not be able to tap directly into the new system. If the monitoring office detects a crime occurring, it can transmit video to the police.
Under the existing system, Darnell's office can request camera feeds from other agencies, but the procedure can be too slow in an emergency, he said.
The new solution will have three to five operators monitoring the cameras during each eight-hour shift. By the end the year, officials hope to install video analytics.
The city is using $500,000 of the $9.6 million in homeland security grants it plans to use for the new network to complete phase one.
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| SECURITY DIRECTOR NEWS INFO CENTER |
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