Camera Net To Stay After Super Bowl
Jacksonville, Fla., is setting up a network of surveillance cameras throughout downtown for Super Bowl security, thanks to homeland security funds, and police will use the cameras after the Super Bowl is over next February. The network will include some 100 cameras, says GTSI, which is installing the system; officials add that the network should be in operation by December.
A few other large cities have similar systems. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Chief Mark Bowen says that during the week of the game, the cameras will be monitored at command centers, and police will watch street traffic flows and crowds and monitor for suspicious activity.
The system will be part of a number of tools intended to prevent crowd problems, and Jacksonville will also be the first to participate in a system designed for early detection of health hazards.
Improved communications equipment has made information sharing easier, and teams have been formed to respond to crises quickly. Ken Tucker, Director of the Jacksonville office of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, says that agencies in the area must become part of information-sharing networks so that they can report and spread information that might be early warning of an attack.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Florida Times-Union (07/30/04) P. A1; Treen, Dana .
