Florida city latest to install public surveillance cams

Following in the footsteps of larger cities like Chicago and Baltimore, West Palm Beach, FL has begun a trial run of public surveillance cameras meant to keep criminals off of the streets and plying their trade indoors, where they belong. West Palm Beach police will be placing four high-tech cams, which can pan, tilt, and zoom in to read a license plate from half-a-mile away, along high-crime Clematis Street, with plans to deploy as many as 100 of the the $17,000 devices in the next two years. The WPB cams can also be programmed to detect gunshots, although this and other cutting-edge features drive up the price of each unit. Even though public surveillance cams bring up sticky issues of privacy, and groups like the ACLU harp on their 1984-esque possiblities, cities that have actually had these systems in use for awhile cite both a reduction in crime and an upswing in crimes solved due to the all-seeing eyes.

[Via Smart Mobs]

[Tidal @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Until they steal the cameras!!! That would be funny.

[Ghost Freeman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Big Brother is watching you poop.

[Ahmed ElDessouki @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I used to live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in one of the most targeted westren compounds. Security is an issue, and the cost of 'loss' of privacy was extremly minamal in comparision to the benifits of saftey.

Now I'm in Montreal, QC. I am amazed by the lack of security, though things seem to be extremly smooth here. I don't know how it is in Florida, but that's up to the government to decide. After all that's their job.

[Scott McDonald @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Amazing how they push to install these cameras in the downtown business section, but in the area of town where people have been getting killed almost weekly nothing is done.

Oh yes, protect the tourist dollars, protecting citizens is secondary.

[Chris Drake @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Bang on on the deployment location selection, Scott. In New Orleans (which is not mentioned, but is still the largest wireless IP surveillance camera implementation in the country (and growing)) we worked closeley with the Police to determine the areas where the cameras would do the most good. I can tell you personally that the placements were never politically controlled, even though tourist dollars made up a large portion of our economy pre-K. Now we are using the wireless network initially begun for the cameras for internet and other communications in the comms-deprived post-K world. The wifi mesh works better than anything else out there including private sector cell and public sector radio...

[Kosmo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

#1 beat me to it, I just cant wait to see their faces when they DO get stolen. I live in NY and i dont know about the crime rate there, but there's not much here.