Miami Riverwatch
The Miami River port, which takes on $4 billion in commerce per year, has installed an intricate video system that gives local law enforcement an additional resource for protecting the river and port facilities.
The port and river have long had a reputation for drug smuggling and piracy, but that reputation is changing thanks to the efforts of law enforcement. Fran Bohnsack, executive director of the Miami River Marine Group, a consortium comprised of some 50 marine-related businesses and 20 port terminals, said that her group had long considered the possibility of installing a video surveillance system to help protect the terminals and businesses.
Threat assessments showed that Miami River was one of the most at-risk port areas, but there was never enough state or federal funding for the video surveillance project until after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bohnsack said. After the attacks, the group received two grants to pay for the installation of the project, which includes a total of more than 218 surveillance cameras in one continuous system. S
everal different agencies are responsible for monitoring the system at different areas along the river; these agencies include the City of Miami Police Department and Marine Patrol, the Miami-Dade County Police Department and Marine Patrol, City of Hialeah Police Department, and Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Maritime Transportation Security Act requires local law enforcement to patrol the Miami River on a 24-7 basis, and the camera system gives law enforcement another resource to accomplish this, says Bohnsack.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from Wireless Week (06/15/05); Rockwell, Mark .