Follow this blog:
RSS

Smart idea: New York City to beef up Midtown surveillance

By | October 5, 2009, 9:58 AM PDT

New York City is going to spend $24 million in Homeland Security grants toward wiring up Midtown Manhattan with video cameras for surveillance.

The aim is to create an “extensive network of security cameras, license plate readers and weapons sensors” in Midtown just like the surveillance systems found in Lower Manhattan.

The Midtown Manhattan Security Initiative will add more cameras and license plat readers between 30th and 60th Streets between the Hudson and East Rivers. The Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, which covers Canal Street and Battery Park from river to river and includes the financial district, Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

According to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly this beefed up network will funnel into the Manhattan Security Coordination Center, which monitors incoming data.

In a statement, Bloomberg said:

“Protecting potential targets is part of the comprehensive strategy we’ve pursued over the past seven and a half years to defend our City. We devote 1,000 police officers to counter terrorism duties every day, and with a combination of high-tech intelligence and old-fashioned policing we are doing everything in our power to keep our City safe from terrorist threats.”

The Midtown monitoring effort, like the one in the Lower Manhattan, puts the NYPD together with private companies from various industries in one place to monitor incoming data.

Start your week smarter with our weekly e-mail newsletter. It's your cheat sheet for good ideas. Get it.

Larry Dignan

About Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is editor-in-chief of SmartPlanet.

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan

Editor-in-Chief

Larry Dignan is editor-in-chief of SmartPlanet and ZDNet. He is also editorial director of TechRepublic. Previously, he was an editor at eWeek, Baseline and CNET News. He has written for WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, New York Times and Financial Planning. He holds degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Delaware. He is based in New York but resides in Pennsylvania.

Follow him on Twitter.

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan
Larry Dignan does not hold any investments in the companies he covers.
1
Comments

Join the conversation!

Follow via:
RSS
0 Votes
+ -
and that's a good thing???
and being in a surveillance society is supposed to be a good thing??? have you ever read Orwell 1984 or "Brave New World"??? those warnings are even more relevant today then they were back then.

We don't live in Russia and we don't (yet?) have a KGB. but there are far too many people who seem to think that it would be a good idea if we did.

What lunacy...

Ben Franklyn had it right when he warned that "Those who give up their freedom for security shall have neither freedom or security".

Big Brother is Watching You... 2 + 2 = 5


Prove to me that 9-11 was not an inside job and then maybe I will feel a little bit more sanguine about all of this surveillance that is supposed to be for our benefit.

(for those who are willing to remove their blinders and to think the unthinkable, there is plenty of proof that 9-11 was indeed an inside job).
Posted by e5923
Updated - 28th Jun
Join the conversation
Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]

Join the SmartPlanet Community and join the conversation! Signing-up is free and quick, Do it now, we want to hear your opinion.