posted 06-16-2002 12:45 AM            

A slightly related topic I might mention, is that during the WTO (world trade organisation) riots there, one 'gentleman' who was urging the crowd to agression was actually a former law enforcement student from a local college I personally knew from many years earlier...He recognised me and I pretended I did not remember him.

posted 06-25-2002 01:58 AM            

Soaring achievement in spying
UC Berkeley team creating 'microfly' to infiltrate enemies

Chuck Squatriglia, Chronicle Staff Writer

Looking to nature to improve on engineering, UC Berkeley researchers have cleared a major design hurdle in their quest to build a tiny robotic fly that the Defense Department hopes to use as a spy.

The robot, called "microfly," remains a long way from buzzing around a room, but the recent creation of minuscule wings that flap like their biological counterparts marks a breakthrough in understanding how insects fly, scientists said.

Microfly is at the vanguard of a field known as biomimetics, based on the idea that biological systems are more flexible and adaptable than anything coming out of a laboratory. Efforts to reverse-engineer nature are influencing fields ranging from jet propulsion to submarine design.

The Pentagon is among the biggest supporters of biomimetics. The government has poured millions of dollars into microfly and other projects -- including a robotic lobster -- that it believes could yield new tools for warfare and espionage.

Microfly "can be used for reconnaissance and scouting," said Promode Bandyopadhyay, head of robotics at the federal Office of Naval Research. "You could have a swarm of them in a battlefield. Eventually, they can work as a group and detect the presence of hostile forces and materials."

Microfly will stand about a half-inch tall and weigh 100 milligrams, or slightly less than a paper clip. It will zip along at 3 meters (about 10 feet) per second and have a range of about 2 kilometers (about 1 1/4 miles).

Such a diminutive robot would be perfect for exploring caves, spying on terrorists or locating survivors in the rubble of an attack or natural disaster, Bandyopadhyay said. But why a fly?

Because the aerodynamic principles that allow F-14 jets to slice through the sky do not work on so small a scale. Instead, engineers must look to insects, which are robust flyers capable of aerobatic maneuvers that would tear a fighter jet apart.

RESEARCHERS MIMIC FLIES' WING MOtions

Microfly was hatched in early 1998, when the Office of Naval Research sought ideas for small robots. Ron Fearing, a UC Berkeley electrical engineer who has been fascinated by robots since childhood, suggested microfly.

The government loved it and allocated $2.5 million. Trouble was, Fearing had no idea how to make microfly fly. Cal biologist Michael Dickinson helped solve that riddle in 1999 with the discovery that insects use a complex choreography of three different wing motions to generate lift and thrust.

That question answered, Fearing and a team of a dozen researchers and students set about designing wings capable of mimicking those movements. The result was wings 10 millimeters long, 3 millimeters wide and 5 microns thick -- about one-twentieth the thickness of a sheet of paper. They are made of a cellophane-like material called polyimide and are so light that a single drop of water can render them too heavy to move.

GETTING ROBOT'S WINGS TO FLAP, Rotate

Designing the wings was easy compared with making them work properly. The trick was getting them to flap and rotate simultaneously at 150 beats per second -- the precise speed needed to generate lift and thrust. "We could get them to flap 150 times a second or rotate 150 times a second, but not both," Fearing said. It was frustrating, because "until you get the wings moving the right way, you can't do anything else."

The answer was a mechanism that allows the wings to flap and rotate simultaneously. A hinge-like linkage connects each wing to a piezoelectric motor, which is simply a ceramic strip that flexes under an electrical charge.

Microfly will rely upon the sun for power, and its three solar panels will double as landing gear. It will be fitted with electronic gear such as a tiny camera and transmitter, and a microprocessor with an operating system dubbed TinyOS will control it all. Everything will be mounted on a stainless steel thorax, or body.

Because microfly is so small -- it can sit atop a quarter with room to spare -- it cannot be assembled with nuts and bolts or heavy glues. Instead, everything is folded and linked like origami. "It's not tedious so much as time-consuming," said Srinath Avadhanula, a mechanical engineering doctoral student who has spent hours assembling microfly parts under a microscope.

MAKING MICROFLY NAVIGATE PRESENTS Hurdle

The wings don't yet generate enough lift to get microfly airborne. Fearing hopes to solve that problem soon and begin work on a guidance system that will allow microfly to fly independently. It now flies only when tethered to a thin rod. "It's a fly with training wheels," he joked. Fearing is counting on Dickinson to help design a navigation system.

Dickinson is studying how flies navigate with reaction speeds that allow them to change course in just 30-thousandths of a second. Dickinson subjects flies to a battery of flight simulators that let him manipulate the scenery and measure their responses.

He's discovered that a fly -- with a brain the size of a sesame seed -- can collect, process and respond to information with the efficiency of a supercomputer. "The information is modulated before it even gets to the brain," he said. "It's quite complicated and elegant."

Microfly won't be the first product of biomimetics. Perhaps the best-known example is Velcro, which was modeled after the burrs that stick so tenaciously to clothing. But projects such as microfly represent a substantial leap in complexity. "You have no idea how good biological systems are until you try to build a man-made one," Dickinson said. "Only then do you realize we have a lot to learn from how these things are put together."

NEXT UP: 'ROBOLOBSTER,' 'ROBOpike'

Among the projects receiving Pentagon funding is "robolobster," a $3 million project under way at Northeastern University in Boston. It will mimic a lobster's ability to navigate pounding surf. The Navy hopes to use robolobster to clear mines and other explosives from shallow water.

The Office of Naval Research also bankrolled "robopike," which is helping researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology understand the fluid mechanics that let fish propel themselves almost effortlessly.

Biomimetic discoveries could bring tremendous advancements to the study of aero- and fluid dynamics, said Bandyopadhyay of the Office of Naval Research. For example, understanding how flies produce the lift and thrust needed for flight could lead to stealthier jet engines.

Learning how bats find insects in the dark could improve sonar and radar systems. And discovering how a pike can cover 6 meters per second with the flap of its tail could lead to faster submarines.

"The Navy is not trying to build a robotic zoo," Bandyopadhyay said. "Instead of building something that looks like a fish or a dolphin or a whale, we want to distill the science and apply it to existing platforms."

For more information about microfly, log on to http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu

posted 07-03-2002 01:24 AM            

Wednesday, July 3, 2002; Page A01 A new network of security cameras will monitor the Mall tomorrow during Independence Day festivities, the U.S. Park Police announced yesterday -- moving up by months the introduction of video surveillance.

Police would not say how many cameras will watch the Mall or where they have been placed. Park Police Chief Teresa C. Chambers said that the cameras were installed over the past three weeks and that they would "see the areas that will be populated" on the holiday.

"The camera can do the work of probably 20 officers," Chambers said after a news conference near the Washington Monument. Police officials said security precautions would not interfere with the festivities.

The FBI warned law enforcement agencies nationwide last week that crowds assembled for July Fourth festivities could pose inviting targets for terrorists, though officials stressed they had no specific or credible threats. Just in case, FBI field offices throughout the country have worked with police in creating contingency plans for the holiday.

The result is one of the most security-conscious Independence Day celebrations in memory. The most obvious sign of stepped-up security will be double rows of wooden fencing surrounding the city's monumental core. The fencing will stretch from the western side of the U.S. Capitol to the Potomac River and north to Lafayette Square. Only Third, Seventh and 14th streets will be kept open across the Mall.

Visitors will enter the fenced-off sections through 24 checkpoints, where bags will be searched and some people will be scanned by officers with metal-detecting wands. Boaters will be kept 150 feet from the Potomac River shoreline between the Memorial Bridge and the 14th Street bridge. The Smithsonian Metro station will be closed because it is within the security perimeter.

Even the fireworks, always under 24-hour guard, will be under tighter security this year, Park Police said. In all, 2,000 police officers from the various law enforcement agencies in the area will be on duty on the Mall.

The D.C. police department also has a network of surveillance cameras, which officers will monitor from a new command center at police headquarters. Police have about a dozen of their own cameras, positioned in high-traffic areas such as Georgetown, Union Station and the Hotel Washington near the White House. The network also can tap into up to 1,000 cameras operated by other agencies.

The new Park Police cameras will transmit to a station near Hains Point. They will be turned off after tomorrow, and some or all might by taken down while their permanent use is evaluated, said Sgt. Scott Fear, a Park Police spokesman.In March, the National Park Service -- which oversees the Park Police -- told Congress of a plan to put cameras in several places around the Mall by October.

The Park Service said rules for using the cameras would be developed and shared with lawmakers.But aides to Rep. Constance A. Morella (R-Md.), chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on the District, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said yesterday that they had not been told of the plan to use cameras tomorrow and that the Park Service had not submitted guidelines for its surveillance.

"We perfectly understand the need for . . . security on July Fourth," said Robert White, a spokesman for Morella. However, he said, "any time you use electronic surveillance, you should have written policies and standards to govern [its] use."

Fear said that policies had been drawn up for use of the cameras but that they could not be made public for security reasons. In May, the National Park Service set up and tested a surveillance system at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island that scanned faces in the crowd and compared them to a database of terrorism suspects, but no such use is contemplated for the Mall, Fear said.

Chambers said the cameras would be used to scan the crowd, looking for suspicious activity or packages. She said some of the cameras can swivel and record for later viewing.

Three of the new cameras appear to have shown up on the cornice of the Lincoln Memorial in the last two weeks -- two on the side of the Reflecting Pool, one facing west toward the Potomac.

Stephen Block, of the D.C. area chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said yesterday that he had not heard about the cameras being set up for tomorrow. The ACLU has fought against the Mall cameras as well as the D.C. police surveillance.

"People are going to be on the National Mall showing their affection for this country, and it's not appropriate for them to be subject to this kind of observation," Block said.

Staff writers Dan Eggen and Martin Weil contributed to this report.

posted 07-10-2002 07:41 PM            

By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 22, 2002; Page E01

Several airlines have begun working on plans for a passenger identification system that would rely on background checks, fingerprints, iris scans and high-tech IDs to verify individuals' identities and speed security screening at airports.

The "trusted traveler" program would give pre-screened passengers easier access through security checkpoints, much as frequent-flier cards permit certain regular travelers to board airplanes before other passengers.

Industry officials floated the idea last fall as a way to minimize chronic security delays that carriers blame for declines in passengers and revenue.

But officials in the new Transportation Security Administration have repeatedly declined to endorse it, saying such a system might be vulnerable to abuse by terrorists.

TSA chief John W. Magaw said terrorists could infiltrate a smart-card system over a period of years. Terrorists are patient, Magaw said in a speech Tuesday at an aviation security conference in Washington. "That's why I'm concerned," he said.

But the approach appears to have growing support from Tom Ridge, the director of homeland security, who urged Northwest Airlines, Continental, Delta and other carriers in a private meeting two weeks ago to develop a detailed plan on how they would implement such a program, according to people familiar with the meeting. "We'll work together with the airline industry," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House Office of Homeland Security.

"We're going to take a look at this." The industry action comes at a time of frustration for airline officials, who have become increasingly vocal about their contention that the unwillingness of transportation security officials to even test trusted-traveler programs has exacerbated a falloff in travel since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, especially on shorter flights.

Industry officials complain that the security agency has been distracted by congressionally mandated deadlines for baggage screening.

The planning moves follow a recent proposal by President Bush to create a Department of Homeland Security that would take on responsibility for aviation security.

Aviation industry officials believe a new department would be more accommodating to the industry in striking a balance between security and passenger convenience. "There is a frustration among airlines that we haven't at least begun testing yet," said Dirk McMahon, a senior vice president for customer service at Northwest.

"The TSA has been willing to listen. But they haven't come out in support. . . . The net result of that is our business continues to unnecessarily suffer." It remains unclear when the airlines could begin live tests of their proposals. Working through the industry's Air Transport Association, the carriers have formed a group to oversee the drafting of a common plan. They hope to get government approval to begin test programs in the coming months.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25989-2002Jun21.html

posted 07-10-2002 08:38 PM            

Fri Jul 5, 9:53 AM ET By SONJA BARISIC, Associated Press Writer

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - If you're a criminal, a runaway or a terrorist, a day at the beach here may soon be anything but that.

The city will become the second in the nation — Tampa, Fla., is the other — to employ facial-recognition software to assist police in identifying and catching criminals and missing persons.

The system is to be tested along the city's oceanfront resort strip this holiday weekend, and police hope to have it fully operational in two to three weeks.

"We're adding to our ability to prevent crime and keep Virginia Beach safe," Deputy Police Chief Gregory Mullen said Wednesday.
Critics say the software is inaccurate and an invasion of privacy.

"This is a Big Brother contraption," said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. "It is a device that allows the police to take pictures of citizens who are doing nothing wrong while they're in a public place."

A board made up of members of minority organizations, civic leagues and the Virginia Beach Hotel/Motel Association helped create guidelines for using the system and will conduct unannounced audits.

The city has used 10 closed-circuit TV cameras to watch the oceanfront since 1993, largely to check traffic and observe crowds. Under the new system, three additional cameras will be used to scan a four-block area and feed images to police station monitors.

The software will create a "map" of 80 distinctive points on the face, such as the distance between features. The system will issue an alert if at least 14 points on a face picked up by a camera match those on a face in a database of mugshots.

If an officer monitoring the computer screen decides the faces look similar, the officer will radio an officer on the street to verify the match in person and take further action.

In Virginia Beach's test, the database will contain about 600 photos of people with outstanding felony warrants as well as volunteers.

The database eventually will contain thousands of mugshots of people wanted for felonies and violent misdemeanors, missing persons and runaways, and people on the FBI's terrorist watch list.

Advisory board member Cornell Fuller said he is confident the system contains enough safeguards to prevent abuse.

"If you go to the ocean I don't think you should have an expectation of privacy," said Fuller. "You give up part of your privacy when you venture out into the public domain."
Some tourists walking along the resort strip Wednesday said they think the system is a good idea.

posted 08-01-2002 02:43 PM            

Published 7:10 a.m. PDT Thursday, August 1, 2002

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police fed up with trash-filled alleys have unveiled the first of 11 special motion-sensor cameras they hope will deter illegal dumping and graffiti in southern Los Angeles.

A power-pole mounted camera in Watts is designed to snap a picture of - and audibly warn - anyone spotted loitering in a junk-filled alley, police said Wednesday.

The steel-encased camera, designed to withstand a bullet, plays a recorded warning that police hope will act as a deterrent: "Stop! This is the LAPD," the recording says. "We have just taken your photograph. We will use this photograph to prosecute you. Leave now."

Similar cameras are planned for other South Los Angeles locations, some mounted near abandoned buildings to discourage squatters.

Legal experts say the pictures taken would be admissible in court. Those caught 'tagging' or illegally dumping could be jailed for six months and fined $1,000 per crime.

Motion-sensor cameras were previously installed in several other Los Angeles neighborhoods.
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/3804673p-4830091c.html

posted 08-03-2002 01:17 AM            

July 27, 2002 Posted: 5:49 PM EDT (2149 GMT)

BERKELEY, California (AP) -- Understanding the aerodynamics that allow insects and hummingbirds to fly is the key to an invention that researchers hope will create a little buzz and a lot of flap.

Biologists and technologists at the University of California, Berkeley have spent the past four years developing a tiny robot, called the Micromechanical Flying Insect, that they say will one day fly like a fly.

The Berkeley project is among a handful aiming to engineer devices that can soar, dart and hover on gossamer wings that flap with a rhythm and precision otherwise found only in nature.

The projects are taking different paths, but the goal is the same: churn out tiny, nimble devices that can surreptitiously spy on enemy troops, explore the surface of Mars or safely monitor dangerous chemical spills.
The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding much of the work because of its potential application in both reconnaissance and surveillance.

In recent years, scientists at Berkeley and elsewhere have made huge strides in understanding insect and bird flight. Their challenge is now to apply that knowledge to the design of devices that, at least at Berkeley, mimic the size, weight, power and -- above all -- aerodynamic elegance of a fly.

"What we're targeting is the blowfly, how it specs out," said Tim Sands, a professor of materials science and engineering.

Lest anyone scoff, Sands and his colleagues point out that a fly can lift its own weight, turn more quickly than any fighter jet, zip about even on torn wings -- and cap it all off by landing on the ceiling.

"Insects," said Berkeley's Ron Fearing, "have tremendous maneuverability."
In a cluttered campus lab, the professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences uses tweezers to pick up a prototype of the mechanical insect. The robot is a flyweight contender for the title of most ambitious of all the flapping robots, generically called ornithopters, entomopters or micro air vehicles.

It has yet to fly.

The Berkeley device is being developed under a five-year, roughly $2.5 million contract. That's pricey for something best described in pocket-change terms.

It takes about a dime's worth of raw materials, including stainless steel that must be folded under a microscope, to build one of the robots. A single penny weighs more than two dozen of the devices. And each boasts a wingspan that matches the diameter of a quarter.

Officials envision soldiers deploying the robotic insects in battle, using them to snoop as only a fly on the wall can.

"It takes an individual and extends their sensory capabilities _ like a periscope -- but it flies independently," said Roy Kornbluh, an engineer at SRI International in Menlo Park. Along with DARPA, the firm has funded development at the University of Toronto of another flapper, a four-winged robot called "Mentor."

During a February flight, the device became the first ornithopter to successfully hover, doing so with the agility of a hummingbird. Mentor is about one foot across and weighs one pound; researchers hope eventually to shrink it down to hummingbird size and weight.

As difficult as flapping flight is to ace, researchers remain enchanted by it because it makes for miniature flying machines that don't gobble large amounts of power.

"Flapping is much more aerodynamically efficient at small sizes, rather than conventional aerodynamics," said Michael Dickinson, a professor of integrative biology at Berkeley and a pioneer in understanding insect flight.

Building wings that flap is one thing, but endowing a robot with enough smarts to control that flapping enough to sustain flight remains difficult, if not impossible.
"The good news is we know what the wings need to do. The bad news is we don't know how to do it," Fearing said.

Consider the fruit fly, Dickinson says. It beats its wings 200 times a second, flapping and rotating them on each stroke in a complicated orchestration that relies on three distinct mechanisms to provide it lift.

In just eight strokes and 40 milliseconds, a fruit fly can make a midair U-turn. Fearing estimates that to copy that level of control, the Berkeley bug would have about a three-stroke margin of error. Mistime the fourth, and the fly goes into a death spiral, he said.

Robert Michelson, principal research engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology Research Institute, said it's too difficult to build a robot that relies solely on modulating its flapping wings for stability and control.

Even the Mentor uses four tail-like fins to direct the downwash of its flapping wings to remain aloft.

Michelson said he is developing a flapping robot, called the entomopter, that will use bursts of gas, a byproduct of the device's chemical propulsion system, to adjust the amount of lift provided by each of the robot's twin sets of wings.

"Until we can do things as well as you find them in Creation, you have to go to alternate techniques," Michelson said of his device, which NASA is eyeing for use on Mars.

Size is also a problem: members of the team behind the Mentor said they opted to get their robot flying before shrinking it. The Berkeley team has taken the opposite approach -- one that others said may prove overly ambitious.

Michael Goldfarb, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University, said limitations in battery and artificial muscle technology will keep the tiniest ornithopters grounded.

Goldfarb's own efforts to build a flapping robot with a six-inch wingspan were unsuccessful.

"Our conclusion to that study was it's not doable with state-of-the-art technology," Goldfarb said.

As it works to get its fly to take wing, the Berkeley team acknowledges it has set its sights high.

posted 08-20-2002 12:27 AM            

Ill. Uses Rest Stop Security Cameras

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.- The state is spending nearly $4 million to equip highway rest stops with security cameras and emergency call boxes, officials said Monday.

The system, expected to be in place by mid-October, will let people contact state police if they feel threatened at any of the state's 53 rest stops and will give police a record of crimes committed there.

posted 08-24-2002 04:24 PM            

According to an unreleased draft plan prepared by the Bush administration, the president favors creating a centralized source for collecting and reviewing e-mail and data relating to cyber security. The new organization would collect threat data from the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center, the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, the Department of Energy and commercial networks, in addition to seeking private sector security data.

According to the draft strategy, the initiative would involve the major ISPs, hardware and software vendors, IT security companies, law enforcement agencies and computer emergency response teams.

The proposed plan, obtained by eWeek, is included in a draft of The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, which was developed by the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. The plan is expected to be publicly released on Sept. 18.

According to eWeek, the plan calls for the private sector to increase its collection of threat data and share it with the government. The plan would have the FBI, Secret Service and Federal Trade Commission create a single system for corporations to report Internet fraud and extortion, illegal hacking, and unauthorized network intrusions. The administration wants the federal government to collect information from the private sector on cybercrime victims and network intrusions.

To alleviate fears of privacy litigation, the administration is proposing to create exemptions from Freedom of Information Act requirements and exemptions from anti-trust laws to reduce liabilities that might arise from private companies revealing information to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

The draft also recommends restricting the use of wireless technologies by federal agencies and requires private companies to disclose their IT security practices. The data would be used to build a "test bed" for security patches.

The Bush administration would also seek to mandate certification programs for government IT workers.

posted 08-25-2002 09:58 AM            

Speed cameras on British roads drive motorists to vandalism

Thousands of the devices have been damaged by drivers upset over the growing number of cameras on the roads

By Alfred Lee
STRAITS TIMES EUROPE BUREAU

LONDON - Vigilante motorists, angry because so many speed cameras are being put up on roads all over Britain, are destroying hundreds of the devices each week.

The drivers, operating surreptitiously at night, are spraying black paint over the lens or putting the cameras out of commission with blow lamps or setting them on fire after dousing them with petrol.

Over the past week alone, 30 cameras - each costing £7,000 (S$19,000) to buy and install - have been damaged beyond use on the busy North Circular Road around London.

Police are taking advantage of a new government scheme which allows them to keep part of the fines obtained from motorists caught going over the speed limit by cameras.

The money has to be spent on buying more cameras - and the result is an ever increasing number of flashing, electronic speed traps.

Fines average £80 and drivers are given a number of demerit points, depending on the speed they were travelling at.

If too many points are accumulated, the driver is banned from driving for three months or more.

Motorists' organisations have pinpointed several stretches of straight and level roads where up to five speed cameras have been installed over a distance of 10 km.

There are 325 cameras in central London and hundreds more on suburban roads.

This week, anonymous letters were sent to national newspapers by an organisation calling itself Motorists Against Detection (Mad), claiming responsibility for the acts of vandalism against the cameras.

The growing number of attacks on cameras in recent weeks signalled the start of a British-wide assault on the devices, Mad warned.

Although thousands of cameras have been damaged, police have not received a single message from any passing driver reporting a vandalism. As a result, no one so far has been caught damaging a camera.

But a Department of Transport spokesman said: 'Research has shown that the number of people killed or seriously injured on some dangerous stretches of road has fallen by 47 per cent after the installation of speed cameras.

'There has been an alarming increase in the number of cameras being vandalised and this could lead to deaths on the road, through speeding.'

Copyright @ 2002 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

posted 08-25-2002 11:36 PM            

The Associated Press

WILMINGTON, Del. (August 25, 2002 9:52 p.m. EDT) - Police in Delaware are trying to get a head-start on cracking crimes before they happen by setting up a database that contains a list of people who officers believe are likely to break the law.
Defense attorneys and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose the database, which lists names, addresses and photographs of the potential suspects - many of whom have clean slates.

The precise grounds for putting a person on the list aren't clear. But since the system was introduced in Wilmington in June, most of the 200 people included in the file have been minorities from poor, high-crime neighborhoods.

State and federal prosecutors say the tactic is legal, but defense lawyers object to the practice.

"We should enforce the existing laws, but not violate them, to catch the bad guys," said Theo Gregory, City Councilman and public defender. "We've become the bad guys, and that's not right."

Mayor James Baker called the criticism "asinine and intellectually bankrupt."

"I don't care what anyone but a court of law thinks," he said. "Until a court says otherwise, if I say it's constitutional, it's constitutional."

The pictures are being taken by two Wilmington police squads created in June to arrest drug dealers. The units are known in some neighborhoods as "jump-out squads" because they jump out of cars and make quick arrests.

posted 09-13-2002 08:42 PM            

By William Glanz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

In Virginia Beach, Va., police started a digital manhunt for criminals this week by pairing surveillance cameras with new identification technology.

It is the second U.S. city to hunt for fugitives by scanning public streets while software compares images of pedestrians captured on camera to digital versions of police photos.

Surveillance cameras have long been used on private property, from banks to airports, and their use in public spaces such as the National Mall is becoming more common.

Police in Virginia Beach and Tampa, Fla., the other city where this technology is used, see the cameras as a strong deterrent to criminals. But privacy advocates say combining surveillance devices with software to hunt for people walking in public places marks the erosion of freedom because it puts scores of innocent people in a digital lineup.

Public officials in Virginia Beach decided to use biometrics — technology to identify people by using algorithms that measure faces, fingerprints and irises — to help them locate criminals wanted there on outstanding felony warrants. That can improve safety in a city that attracts 3 million tourists a year, Virginia Beach Police Chief A.M. "Jake" Jacocks Jr. said.

The technology has not led to the arrest of any suspect in the United States. But advocates also see the cameras as a powerful deterrent.

"We may not even make an arrest as a result of using this technology," Chief Jacocks said. But "if it keeps criminals out of the resort area and keeps the resort area safe, then that's a success."

Police won't say where the cameras are, but the innocuous-looking globes hover above three busy intersections along Atlantic Avenue, the bustling center of the oceanfront community's tourist area. The cameras scan a face in less than a second and up to six images at once, Deputy Police Chief Gregory G. Mullen said.

Face-scanning software relies on biometrics to measure 80 facial features, from the distance between a person's eyes to the length of a person's face.

Police monitor images from the cameras at the police department's 2nd Precinct headquarters. An alarm sounds if a camera determines that at least 14 measurements match a digital photo. That signals that a potential suspect is on Atlantic Avenue. Officers will determine whether the match is valid by looking at surveillance video themselves. If they confirm the person matches the photo, an officer will be sent to question the person.

Police in Virginia Beach, a city of 425,000 people, have digital photos of 650 criminals in their database. But the hardware can store 30,000 digital photos. The department expects to work with other law-enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to search for fugitives and missing persons believed to be in Virginia Beach.

Kathleen Stant stood along Atlantic Avenue on Monday in view of one of the city's new high-tech cameras. While she took a picture of her husband, Vernon, Mrs. Stant didn't know police were able to take her picture and instantly compare it to the database of fugitives.

No one came for Mrs. Stant, but the technology still made her feel uneasy.

"It's kind of 1984-ish," said Mrs. Stant, referring to the novel of that name written by George Orwell about a futuristic society in which the government wields oppressive power over the people.

"I understand why people feel the need for it. But the concern is whether police abuse it," said Mrs. Stant, a 50-year-old Richmond resident who traveled to Virginia Beach for the day.

Police have tried to ease concerns.

Cameras scan scores of innocent people each minute, but police have said they won't store images in their database of people who don't match police photos. In addition, the computer system will only be accessible from the 2nd Precinct headquarters and isn't connected to the Internet, so it can't be hacked. A Citizen's Advisory Committee was appointed to audit the department's use of the technology.

Despite those measures, face-scanning software is new and inaccurate and could lead to false positives, when police stop innocent people mistakenly identified as suspects, said Kent Willis, head of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"We will be very concerned if false positives happen and people get arrested who shouldn't be," he said.

The software also is easily fooled, said Michael Thieme, director of special projects at private consulting firm International Biometric Group in New York.

"Changes in hairstyle and adding or taking off glasses can really change the accuracy. It shouldn't, but it does," Mr. Thieme said.

During a test of Virginia Beach's software, it accurately identified people 87 percent of the time during the day and at dusk, according to data released by the police department. At night it was accurate 75 percent of the time.

The Tampa Police Department has used the same biometric software since 2001 that Virginia Beach police are using.

Tampa created a stir during the 2001 Super Bowl — dubbed the Snooper Bowl by privacy advocates — when it secretly used the software to scan crowds for suspected criminals.

There is concern that police are overreacting because of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"Have we become a crime center all of the sudden? This is very scary technology, and I am concerned about an abusive, intrusive government," said Robert K. Dean, spokesman for the Virginia Beach Libertarian Party and the Virginia Beach Taxpayers Alliance.

But the debate in Virginia Beach over face-scanning technology did change after the attacks. Federal law-enforcement officials notified Virginia Beach police that two hijackers — Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi — were in the city in February 2001 and April 2001.

http://www.washtimes.com/business/20020913-96526518.htm

posted 09-20-2002 10:44 PM            

NORFOLK -- Smile when you dump that old refrigerator in some out-of-the-way city lot. You just might be on camera.

The city has purchased two all-weather surveillance cameras and will install them within weeks at spots popular with illegal dumpers. City staffers have seen just about everything abandoned in lots: a sailboat with no mast, washing machines, construction debris, plain old garbage. But the dumpers, who seem to favor dawn and dusk for quickly unloading truckloads of trash, are seldom caught in the act, said Scott Whitehurst.

He's an environmental specialist with Norfolk's Department of Public Works Division of Environmental Storm Water Management, which cleaned up roughly 300 dump sites last year at a cost of more than $100,000. The new equipment will capture images of furtive dumpers, providing a means to prosecute them.

Dumping trash can cause problems with odors, rodents and disease, said Sharon C. Harris, a public information specialist with the department. One camera records in color and one in black and white -- more ideal for low-light conditions, Whitehurst said. They are sturdy and likely will be mounted on poles.

The system cost nearly $10,000, he said.

Whitehurst declined to identify where the city will target dumpers. Still, he said, signs might be posted noting areas are under surveillance. Those who dump face up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Norfolk isn't the first to try the approach. In Kentucky, the state Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet has found the devices to be a deterrent, spokesman Mark York said.

``We've had excellent success,'' he said, adding that it's hard for those caught with their license plate and face on camera to dispute the offense.

Cameras in Kentucky also reportedly have captured parked lovebirds. York dismissed that as ``more of a humorous item.''

Asked about privacy concerns, Harris said cameras are intended to capture dumping.

``My thinking is, it'll be focused on the site itself -- whoever's on that vacant lot,'' she said. She also said, ``Those people coming to areas and dumping are there to commit a crime.''

Mihir Kshirsagar, a policy analyst with the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, an organization devoted to civil liberties issues and protecting privacy, said it seemed ``crazy'' to resort to watching people with cameras to prevent dumping.

He said the public should debate how the recordings would be treated and protected.

http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw0919dum.html

posted 09-23-2002 03:37 PM            

Whoa, Big Brother

The speed camera "experiment" begun a few months ago could be about to expand into a city-wide grid of cameras — and a flurry of tickets for D.C. motorists. The Washington Times has learned that the city has the option of modifying the contract it originally signed with Lockheed Martin IMS, the supplier of the photo-radar units, to erect a much more comprehensive "Automated Traffic Enforcement Program" that would make it possible to ticket literally millions of motorists every year, at almost any time and place in the city.

Under the terms of the contract tendered by Lockheed Martin IMS to William M. Cartis of the Metropolitan Police Department, "speed on green" photo-radar units that track the rate of travel of automobiles as they pass through intersections could be set up all over downtown. According to the language of the contract, "photo radar and speed on green units will target all vehicles traveling above the posted speed limit."

This represents an order of magnitude increase beyond the initial, small-scale use of photo radar that involved one "fixed" unit, and five mobile units installed in city police vehicles that could be set up at various points around town.

How much is all this worth to the city?

According to estimates provided by Lockheed Martin IMS, the District could mulct motorists to the tune of $10,988,588 annually — after it pays off the private contractor, who gets a big chunk of each $29 ticket issued by the photo-radar and speed-on-green units.

Lockheed Martin IMS stated in the original contract with the city that it "anticipated over 80,000 payments per month."

Never before has the use of speed traps to generate revenue for municipal government been so flagrant. And the unabashed cashing-in by the private contractor helpfully setting all this up is something to behold.

The old nag trotted out by photo radar advocates that "speed kills" is a non-sequitor that intelligent people ought to dismiss out-of-hand.

The proper questions ought to be: What speeds are reasonable and how should they be enforced? Dangerous speeding is one thing. Mercilessly prosecuting motorists for driving faster than an arbitrary and often under-posted limit (the maximum lawful limit within the District is just 25 mph on almost all streets) is nothing more than a tax by another name. Using cameras to maximize the revenue stream in this manner — and for the partial benefit, don't forget, of a private contractor — establishes a new level of effrontery that will be hard to top.

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020922-507153.htm

posted 09-23-2002 07:57 PM            

Goodbye freedom...hello POLICE STATE.

This is not "black helicopters" this is REAL and this is WORSE!

Crypto Fascism exposed!

Mech

posted 09-24-2002 04:54 PM            

Posted on Tue, Sep. 24, 2002

Mall surveillance under spotlight

Taped beating shows parking lot cameras see more than shoplifting

By CHARLES LUNAN and LEIGH DYER
Charlotte Observer

When a young mother struck her 4-year-old daughter in a car parked outside a Kohl's department store in Indiana 10 days ago, she couldn't have picked a worse place.

Few areas are watched as closely these days as shopping centers and their parking lots, including in Charlotte and the Carolinas.

Mall managers and retailers have made surveillance a key tool in their fight against shoplifting, auto theft and protection from frivolous lawsuits. And in the wake of the terrorist attacks, surveillance will only increase, experts said.

"Security is our No. 1 line item on our budget," said Ray Soporowski, general manager for Concord Mills and four other Southeast malls for Mills Corp. of Arlington, Va.

The mall opened in 1999 with a $500,000 video surveillance system, recently expanded to monitor its roof and underground supply tunnels in response to terrorist alerts.

Although cameras have been catching shoplifters and auto thieves in parking lots for years, privacy experts question whether most Americans understand they are being watched even after they leave a store.

"Maybe it's just going to be a wake-up call," said Kate Rears, editorial director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., a civil liberties advocacy group. "OK, when I'm in my car, maybe I don't have as much privacy as I thought I did."

On Monday in an Indiana court, Madelyne Gorman Toogood, 25, was arraigned on a felony charge of battery to a child, and a magistrate entered an innocent plea on her behalf.

The Sept. 13 video was recorded by a camera in a parking lot outside a Kohl's store in Mishawaka and shown repeatedly on national TV.

Her attorney said there was no point in trying to challenge the videotape.

"It is what it is," said Steven Rosen. "We will probably enter a guilty plea and throw ourselves on the mercy of the court."

Toogood's daughter, Martha, remains in foster care while child-protection officials review custody. A doctor examined the girl and found no medical problems and no long-term signs of abuse, authorities said.

"People might think I'm a monster, but I've been a mother for six years, and no harm has come to my children before this, never," Toogood, who faces up to three years in prison, told CNN earlier Monday. "I'm sorry. That's all I can say."

Local law enforcement could not recall any instances where retailers provided videotape showing domestic violence or child abuse. But officials said it's common for retailers and shopping centers to share tapes as police investigate crimes.

"It's not really common where they just catch something on tape like this," said Keith Bridges, community education director for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. "It just goes to show you the value of security cameras."

Last August, police arrested men at Eastland Mall on trespassing charges and found burglary tools inside their car after an employee spotted suspects cruising the parking lot at midnight. After calling Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, the employee followed the suspects with some of the 48 cameras installed in 1999 to monitor security, said General Manager Kevin McCluskey.

In the year after new cameras were installed in 1999, Eastland's parking-lot incidents dropped 33 percent, McCluskey said. An incident is defined as anything an officer has to fill out a report for, from shoplifting to lost children. In 2001, incidents dropped another 2 percent, and statistics are on track to show another 12 percent drop in 2002, he said.

Although the American Civil Liberties Union has no objection to cameras at potential terrorist targets, such as the U.S. Capitol, it is urging America to resist the impulse to install them in more public spaces. The ACLU warns that despite several examples of abuse of the monitoring, there is still no consensus in America as to how video surveillance should be restricted. It also points to studies indicating that cameras have had uneven success in deterring crime.

That worries people like John Piana, a Charlotte accountant.

"It's Big Brother coming," he said. "Because it's happening in little baby steps, everyone is really desensitized. Each and every day, a new camera is added somewhere."

At the Columbia Place mall in Columbia, General Manager Charles Gwinn is overseeing the installation of a 42-camera system as part of a multi-million dollar renovation.

Besides detecting crime, the system will allow mall security to spot medical emergencies, stranded motorists, lost children and even hazardous spills on the floor, said Gwinn.

"We are interested primarily in public safety," said Gwinn.

At Concord Mills, general manager Soporowski also sees it as a public safety tool. From a dimly lit room in the back of the mall, employees work round the clock monitoring feeds from 76 cameras, including several in the parking lot.

Cameras can be directed to follow a shoplifting suspect from a store, through the food court, out an exit, across the parking lot, into a car and even onto the entrance ramp for I-85.

"Is it foolproof?" asked Soporowski. "No. But having 76 more sets of eyes helps."