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Police Cars To Transmit Real-Time Video
Hugh Pickens writes "In the first such system deployed in the country, police vehicles in Ponca City, Oklahoma will have wireless video cameras installed so precinct dispatchers and supervisors can monitor activities during traffic stops in real time, and quickly deploy additional officers and resources if necessary. The system to provide an added level of monitoring and protection for its force is part of a broadband mesh network comprised of more than 490 wireless nodes and gateways connected to 120 miles of fiber backbone that will provide coverage for approximately 30 square miles of the city. The network will provide field communications for city services including police, fire and emergency, parks and recreation, public works and energy, but will also be used to provide free wireless internet access for all residents of the city. 'The testing of this network showed that it was robust enough to handle not only municipal traffic, but also citizens' traffic.' said Mayor Homer Nicholson. 'So the Ponca City Board of Commissioners voted to allow the extra internet access to be given to the citizens of Ponca City for free.' The second phase of the project will expand the network and wireless coverage to more than 430 square miles surrounding the city with an estimated annual cost savings of over $1 million for city residents, who can discontinue their existing internet service. 'Our goal is to be one of the most mobile communities in America, and this is a significant step in that direction,' said Nicholson."
I say this is a good thing, but we shouldn't stop there. I'd say everyone's car should have [hidden] video cameras...
Anything that happens on public ground, especially involving public servants (i.e. police), should be considered to be recorded by the public. Privacy in public is an outdated concept, and has never truly existed anyways (so give it up). Someone will be watching -- the question is, is everyone watching, or is it a one-sided situation (like the CCTV system in the UK)?
Events taking place on public ground should never come down to "his word vs. mine." In cases where this involves police, then the police officers' word is always given more credit than the citizens'. Now while this is probably a reasonable bias to have, it neglects the fact that police officers are just humans too, and are themselves just as influenced by biases as anyone else. Video recordings have no bias...
This is essentially becoming a reality, especially considering that most everyone's phone has a camera. Let's see what happens the next time there is an instance of abuse of authority, say during a traffic stop or what-have-you...
As Marge Simpson said...
You know, the courts may not be working any more, but as long as everyone is videotaping everyone else, justice will be done.
... how soon before the ISPs currently serving the community sue?
Free wifi + real time video + VOIP = bandwidth issues and maybe even AP over load.
also mesh network may make things even slower and traffic may have to use a few links to get a hard wired network link.
What if you have 80% to 100% homes on a block useing this?
What if 4-5 cops cars are in the same area?
Ok, security-thinking time...
Hmmm. If this were done someplace that was worth the effort (no idea what that city is like) it could potentially be a great way to keep track of where the cops were and maybe even what they were up to.
--MarkusQ
They mean paid for by their own tax dollars.
I live south of Ponca City in Stillwater, OK. I can tell you that what ever mom and pop isp is in the area is probably gonna run the whole thing for them. There isn't a strong presence in the area by any large isps. It should also be noted that Ponca City is mostly Oil Refineries (Connaco / Philips ) and the area around there is sparsely populated. Were talking farmland and grazing grassland prairie. Most of the people around here do not have Internet access other than dial up. I pay a hefty fee to get 1 mb point to point 802.11 from a tower 3 miles away.
We substituted the coffee Slashdot normally drinks with "Sandoz Crystals", Lets see if they notice the difference
Qos addresses most of those issues, The problem IMO is that most wireless technologies are easy to jam. WPA for example is easy as hell to jam, a felon with a laptop with a laptop and aircrack can just kick all local users (including the cops) off the router. OTOH as long as this is in addition to their standard communication methods i don't see this as a problem.
IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
...and all I've seen for hours is a static shot of Dennys.
Have gnu, will travel.
I would strongly suspect(though I've been guilty of optimism before) that the cop-cams, whatever the precise implementation details are, have at least a few minutes of local buffer. Even aside from the risk of deliberate jamming, getting wifi to work 100% of the time is nontrivial.
More details about the Ponca City's wireless mesh in the slideshow presentation here.
Motorola makes a product that streams video back from first responder vehicles over mesh networks that has been available for a couple years now. One of the customers is the LAPD.
http://www.motorola.com/business/US-EN/Mobile+Video+Sharing_US-EN.do?vgnextoid=c5dc23805ae46110VgnVCM1000008406b00aRCRD
---- Dave
I still think the cops will have the ability to turn off the camera. One of my first jobs out of high school ('89) was in a company that made, among other things, circuit boards for cop-car cameras. If the lights were on, the camera was rolling. I'd been there a week when we had to change the product, because all of the police departments requested a kill switch for the camera. The first thing that popped out of my mouth was "why would they want to turn off the camera?" That little question was the cornerstone from which my entire political worldview was built, and I've yet to see a reason to change it. Cops want the power and freedom to be able to deal with suspects without leaving any evidence. It's not that I don't trust cops, but that I don't trust people with power. When those people take active steps to keep their exercise of power, their methods, secret, that sends up a whole bucket of red flags.
Couple nice pieces of tail there.
Newport Beach, California has had video recorders on its police units since at least 1997, and it's great. It helps cops prove their cases, and has a huge effect on keeping officers out of abuse complaints, both real and false accusations.
The reality is, most police are actually in favor of this once they realize how it helps them do their job and keeps them out of trouble.
I've actually seen a case made by one of these tapes. I've sat in a DA's conference room watching as a DUI investigation a defense attorney claimed that his client was not drunk - until she fell over, ha ha. Boy did he change his tune quick.
But this does have a positive effect on officer behavior. Obviously, if you know you are being taped, you are going to be more careful doing your job.
One downside of live streaming: Not all of the people police encounter are criminals. There are crying victims, accident scenes, etc. I know if I were laying bleeding on the street and a cop was the first responder to my accident, I wouldn't want it broadcast as I cried like a baby. And what about rape victims? Yes, not likely to be encountered in a traffic stop, but surely there will be cases where victims of crime are broadcast for the world to see.
BTW, even for those departments that don't have video, many cops these days carry mobile audio recorders and they push "record" when they talk to suspects.
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Depending on where you live, I highly recommend going on a ride-along with your local Police Department. Some of the cities in Silicon Valley have Police Departments equipped with some amazing tech. From on the fly license plate scanning of all vehicles around you and bouncing those plates off the various alert lists, to their real-time map of all police, ambulance and fire trucks in the area that show them converging on accidents or violators. BTW, license plate scans are stored by time and gps location and can be used at a later time to locate people of interest... The car I was in also had video (pretty darn good quality) being recorded and accessable tby the PD "overseer" at any time. BTW, it gets even more interesting on their helicopters (didnt get to go but a friend works as a pilot for CHP). They got super high res, high end cams that automatically track people (touch screen - just touch the perps car and the camera and if necessary the spot light will stay on them), same deal as far as character recognizing the plates from way up high and storing time, gps, and pics of them for "other uses". Anectodally, the newest generation of plate recognition is completely nonplussed by the various covers or spray-on reflective crap - they get your info no matter what. Pretty cool stuff from tech point of view, and pretty creepy from the civil rights side.
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
BTW, even for those departments that don't have video, many cops these days carry mobile audio recorders and they push "record" when they talk to suspects.
Yup. My brother does this.
If the guy in the back seat won't stop trash talking and generally being a loudmouth asshole, he simply puts the recorder on the dash, and presses record in a visible dramatic sort of way.
Instant silence, and politeness from the back seat.
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"I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh