|
|
On the street Ring of Steel security plan leaves New Yorkers ill at ease
This summer, the New York City Police Department proposed a new downtown surveillance plan—dubbed the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative—that, when in effect, will add 3,000 surveillance cameras below Canal Street by 2008. Of these 3,000 cameras, around 2,000 will be owned by the private sector. (There are currently about 250 surveillance cameras operated by the NYPD in the city, particularly in high-crime areas.) The plan also calls for license-plate readers, which would be a part of the Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed congestion pricing plan as well, and for swinging gates to be installed at key intersections to help police stop suspicious vehicles. The use of face-detection software and biohazard detection systems is still being debated. “This area [Downtown] is very critical to the economic lifeblood of this nation,” New York City Police commissioner Raymond Kelly said back in July. “We want to make it less vulnerable.” When completed, the plan will strongly resemble London’s so-called Ring of Steel, which was created in the early 1990s to deter IRA violence. While London’s surveillance system has not prevented any terrorist attacks, it has helped capture guilty individuals in the aftermath of attacks, particularly in the July 7, 2005, mass transit bombing and the attempted car bombings shortly thereafter. Given London’s experiences with this kind of surveillance, there is some question as to how well such a system will work in New York to prevent attacks.
Meanwhile, civil liberties advocates are awash in concerns, one being that the sheer mass of video footage taken will exceed what the NYPD can handle. Another is the possible misuse of technology: Activists are asking who will have access to information gathered by surveillance teams, and how long the information will be kept, since currently there are no city regulations concerning the use or retention of surveillance footage. Finally, activists worry about how the program will be funded: It is slated to cost $90 million to implement and $8 million to operate in its first year. About $25 million has already been raised ($15 million from the city, $10 million from Homeland Security grants), which will help offset the 40 percent budget cut in Homeland Security funds the city faced last year. The funding will enable the city to install 116 license plate readers in fixed and mobile locations, including cars and helicopters, in the coming months; by the end of the year, more than 100 cameras will have begun monitoring cars in Lower Manhattan. With all this in mind, Chelsea Now hit the streets recently to find out what New Yorkers think of the proposed Security Initiative.
|
Artigiano > our latest family addition:
|
|
|
Chelsea Now is published by |
Written permission of the publisher must be obtainedbefore any of the contents |
