Seen on the AP wire:
A car circles a high-rise three times. Someone leaves a backpack in a park. Such things go unnoticed in big cities every day. But that could change in Chicago with a new video surveillance system that would recognize such anomalies and alert authorities to take a closer look.
“You’re talking about creating (something) that knows no fatigue, no boredom and is absolutely focused,” said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
For example, the system could be programmed to alert the city’s emergency center whenever a camera spots a vehicle matching the description of one being sought by authorities.
The system could be programmed to recognize license plates. It could alert emergency officials if the same car or truck circles the Sears Tower three times or if nobody picks up a backpack in Grant Park for, say, 30 seconds.
In this day and age, I can easily understand the usefulness of such technology, especially in certain high-profile locations…and the thought that technology has progressed to the point where the police can ask the camera network to automagically locate a certain vehicle. However, considering the lack of laws and regulations governing the potential use of such tech…not to mention the relative disdain the government shows existing regs…it also seems like a somewhat ominous development.