New York City Plans 'Ring of Steel'

Sci-Tech
Posted: 2007-07-10

The city that never sleeps is about to get many more unblinking eyes. According to a report in Monday's New York Times, New York City is setting up a web of surveillance cameras, remote-controlled roadblocks, and license-reading technology throughout lower Manhattan, which includes Wall Street.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told the Times that the project is "very critical to the economic lifeblood of this nation." The new security measures, he said, will make the city "less vulnerable."

When completed, the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative will have 3,000 public and private security cameras below Canal Street, as well as a center for police and private security officials. About 2,000 of the cameras will be owned by downtown businesses. The entire initiative is projected to be completed by 2010, with 100 cameras being operational before the end of this year.

Ring of Steel

There will be cameras in fixed locations, in addition to mobile ones in cars and helicopters. The information will be transmitted live. According to the Times, the police have not yet decided if they will use face-recognition technology, but they will be able to read license plates.

Some observers have noted that, regardless of their effect on terrorism, the cameras will almost certainly increase enforcement of traffic laws. Getting a traffic ticket in the mail along with a photo of your car and plate is not uncommon in some cities.

The Times reported that remote-controlled gates, at vital intersections, will be able to block traffic on command.

The entire initiative is modeled after London's extensive network of street-viewing cameras, which, along with roadblocks and other measures, is dubbed the Ring of Steel. It is intended to deter terrorist attacks or to help with identification and capture if an attack occurs. British authorities have said that the cameras helped track suspects in the car bomb plots last month, and in the London subway bombings in 2005.

Privacy Issues

Some observers questioned the efficiency of the cameras, as well as the privacy issues they raise. The New York Civil Liberties Union has said that the program is being implemented without any public input, and that there are no safeguards for how the images are used or made accessible.

Others, such as the conservative Heritage Foundation, noted that there is little evidence security cameras actually deter terrorism.

This is not the first time that critics have attacked the plan. A previous plan had been shelved because of cuts in New York's Homeland Security grant money, some of which has now been restored.