Thermal Cameras Show Too Much?

BOSTON (CBS) – A thermal imaging project in the city of Boston has been put on hold because of privacy concerns.

Boston officials had hoped to have aerial and street-level photos taken across about four square miles of the city this winter using infrared cameras that would show heat loss in the city homes.

Officials planned on sharing the photos and analysis with homeowners, and were hoping the findings would increase enrollment in efficiency programs and also create business opportunities.

But, the project hit a snag when the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts raised concerns that the infrared cameras would reveal information about what’s going on inside the homes. Sagewell’s cameras can take up to 20,000 images of homes per day.

Despite the concern, towns outside of Boston have not had any problems with the program. Utilities and environmental groups from Springfield and Hamilton are in the process of initiating the same project in their communities.

High Crime Cameras in Seattle?

Big Brother may start watching a lot more in the Emerald City. The Urban League has asked Seattle officials to install surveillance cameras throughout a high crime neighborhood.

James Kelly, CEO of the Urban League, says gang violence is out of control and the anti-snitching code among youth is hindering police efforts to catch the criminals. Kelly believes cameras can help, not only by deterring thugs but also by helping prosecute the criminals who continue wreaking havoc.

What's particularly interesting is that Kelly and the Urban League have been vocal critics of the Seattle P.D. They've blasted the department over several recent incidents involving alleged police brutality including a case where a young jaywalker ended up getting punched in the face after pushing an officer. Kelly now wants to give that same department the power to monitor residents' every move in the area...

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Barbie cam spurs call for boycott

Watch out, Ken – Barbie’s got a spy cam. The new “Video Girl” Barbie from Mattel ($49.99) is embedded with a working video camera capable of taking 30-minute videos, cleverly hidden in the doll’s necklace (Barbie always did know how to accessorize).

One Australian psychologist is calling for a boycott, warning the Barbie cam will make it too easy for adults to exploit children and for children to upload inappropriate videos to the Internet.

“Boycott this product and to refuse to shop in any store that justifies selling this potentially pornographic tool," clinical psychologist Sally-Anne McCormack urged readers of the Herald Sun newspaper of Melbourne, Australia. She said she has counselled patients in the past who have been filmed without their knowledge. “Must I now also deal with clients who have been traumatized by a misused Barbie?"...

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Surveillance cameras at Ohio public places, private businesses to be linked for emergencies

Fox59.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio plans to create a network linking thousands of cameras monitoring public roads and schools and privately owned businesses such as shopping malls.

The Ohio Homeland Security agency says the goal is to provide eyes for police, firefighters and other first responders when they handle major emergencies. Agency executive director William Vedra says it's not a "Big Brother" effort to spy on Ohioans.

Vedra says the system, modeled after a similar one in Alabama, should be operating within two years. A bipartisan panel of lawmakers approved $235,000 for the project last month.

Republican state Rep. Jay Hottinger tells The Columbus Dispatch the state needs to give the highest assurances that personal privacy won't be invaded.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com

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No criminal charges for school that spied on kids through laptops

The federal prosecutor investigating the case of a Pennsylvania school district that spied on its students via remote-controlled laptop cameras says the school district won't face criminal charges in the case.

US Attorney Zane David Memenger said in a statement that there is no evidence the Lower Merion School District, in suburban Philadelphia, had any criminal intent when it remotely activated cameras on laptops issued to students.

"For the government to prosecute a criminal case, it must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person charged acted with criminal intent," Memeger said, as quoted at Information Week. "We have not found evidence that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone involved had criminal intent."

The issue came to light in February, when the parents of Harriton High School student Blake Robbins filed a class-action lawsuit alleging the school district invaded Robbins' privacy by filming him in his home through his school-issued laptop. It emerged later that the school district photographed Robbins 400 times in a two-week period, in various states of undress and even during his sleep.

Investigators found that the remote-controlled cameras took some 56,000 pictures of Lower Merion School District students over a two-year period, with the cameras sometimes left on for weeks at a time...

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Video: Inside New York's Spycam HQ's


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Ringing New York with spy cameras may or may not help stop terror attacks. But at least the surveillance network’s headquarters looks cool.

In this clip, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly takes CBS News inside the nerve center of the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative. The idea is to use video intelligence algorithms and an array of 3,000 cameras to spot terrorists before they strike in the financial district...

Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/05/video-inside-new-york-spycam-hq/#ixzz0nZmZEIFV

Police Use Head-Mounted Cameras To Track Incidents

Cincinnati, Ohio (CNN) -- As she began a foot pursuit of a suspect down a dark alley and around a forbidding street corner, Cincinnati police officer Mandy Curfiss radioed to headquarters that she was heading toward a local gas station.

"Fourteen-26, still running towards Shell," Curfiss said as the suspect ignored her commands to stop.

Seconds later, the man wheeled around, grabbed Curfiss and, after a brief struggle, ripped her Taser from her hands and charged toward her. Then he charged the officer who arrived to back up Curfiss. The second officer wrestled the suspect to the ground and cuffed him, with no injuries to anyone.

The suspect was charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer. If he had chosen to fight the charge in court, he would have had to contend with a piece of evidence only recently available: a videotape of the entire incident.

The confrontation on February 24 was recorded with a small camera Curfiss was wearing on her head. It's called the AXON, manufactured by Taser International, the same company that makes the widely used stun guns.

Curfiss is one of 10 Cincinnati police officers who have patrolled the streets with the AXON camera mounted behind an ear. Five police departments across the United States are testing the AXON and one department -- in Aberdeen, South Dakota -- has purchased a set.

It's a crucial tool for gathering evidence, said officers who've used the device. They like that it is capable of moving with them where mobile video recorders, so-called "dash cameras" in squad cars, can't go. They say the camera often pre-empts "he said-she said" disputes in court.

Since the Cincinnati Police began testing them in January, the cameras have recorded several confrontations. In another incident in February, an officer ordered a suspect to lie face down after a traffic stop. Despite repeated commands to show his hands, the suspect didn't respond and appeared to reach toward his pockets. Officers quickly handcuffed him and discovered he had two pistols...

Police Partner With License Plate Readers

A growing number of police departments are turning to mobile camera systems to fight motor vehicle theft and identify unregistered cars.

The cameras read license plates of parked and moving cars — hundreds per minute — and check them against vehicle databases, said Lance Clem, a spokesman for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which purchased several systems for its police vehicles last fall.

Departments in Denver and Colorado Springs; South Portland, Maine; Gwinnett, Douglas and Cherokee counties in Georgia; and Clinton, Conn., are planning to deploy or have already added License Plate Recognition (LPR) systems this year, officials from those agencies said...