Navy Pier triples number of surveillance cameras
[From Navy Pier triples number of surveillance cameras :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall]
Chicago has added 200 more cameras at Navy Pier, the result of a $4.2 million grant from Homeland Security. 40 of the cameras monitor the inside area, while 160 are outdoor cameras. The cameras replace 60 black & white cameras that were fixed. The new cameras can rotate and “pick out a face in a crowd six blocks away.” There is even a camera with analytics that focuses on the inlet between Navy Pier and the Jardine Water Filtration Plant. If the camera detects a boat entering the inlet, it will send an audible message, “Leave this area immediately. You’re subject to a $5,000 fine by the U.S. Coast Guard“. If the boat continues, a marine unit is sent to intercept the intruding boat.
The cameras have been operational since February. Thus far, the cameras “have already been used to catch at least one pick-pocket and nab someone who was damaging a store that had closed for the night.” This is far from impressive to me. It looks like the city is not pushing the cameras as a deterrence to crime, but as a way to later investigate crime. I assume they are pushing this angle, because they realize the limited deterrence impact of the cameras.
The article also notes facial recognition, but doesn’t give much detail. I am not sure if they are running software or just that the cameras have the capability to zoom in on facial details.
More cameras are also coming to “McCormick Place, Soldier Field and the Museum Campus, thanks to a $6.8 million Homeland Security grant awarded in 2007. Seventeen cameras — 11 of them infra-red — will cover the area from Oak Street Beach all the way to 3900 South. That’s because on flat land, there’s a visibility of one mile at night and two miles during the day, Gavin said.”
As for privacy, the city doesn’t acknowledge any concern. Their view is “Walt Disney [World] has probably been doing this for years,” said Ray Orozco, executive director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. While there are differences between Walt Disney World & Chicago, they both are equally secretive as to how they utilize their cameras.
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