Welcome to Police State USA

[Matthitjah]

Here's yet another example of the coming Police State;

Quote Chron.com;

Smile, if you're in downtown Houston

Homeland Security picking up tab for 250-300 surveillance cameras

By BRADLEY OLSON and ZAIN SHAUK

Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

Nov. 24, 2010, 10:15PM

A worker installs a surveillance camera at Rusk and Milam on Wednesday. Some Houstonians say they find the idea a comfort, while other worry about Big Brother or the cost of the system

The city is installing 250 to 300 cameras at downtown intersections in an effort to prevent and fight terrorism and crime, part of a security initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The cameras, which the city began installing in earnest this summer, already have helped police catch car burglars in the act, said Dennis Storemski, the city's director of the Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security. Eventually, he said, the cameras could be used to allow dispatchers or officers approaching a crime scene to survey what's happening from their patrol vehicles before they arrive.

"The intent is to protect critical infrastructure and prevent terrorism," he said. "Experience has shown that when people plan terroristic acts, they plan and they do dry runs, so what we would be looking for is suspicious activity around certain locations. And for any crimes, you can go back and look at the video and identify the perpetrators."

More than 50 cameras already have been installed around the George R. Brown Convention Center, Discovery Green Park, the theater district and Minute Maid Park. Every downtown intersection will be equipped with a camera. Eventually, Storemski said, the program may be expanded to include the Reliant Stadium complex, the Port of Houston, even some city parks where festivals frequently are held.

'Big government'

The footage can be monitored in real time by police and after the fact through a computer network built during the past three years.

The cameras will allow police to monitor any scene from several viewpoints at once rather than having to staff events with officers surveying the scene in binoculars, he said.

For some who passed by the northeast corner of Milam and Texas early Wednesday, where a crew installed one such surveillance device, the idea was alarming.

"I'm not in favor of it," said Mike Wells, who was walking to his office across the street.

The cost of operating the cameras, as well as their capability to invade privacy, was troubling, he said.

"That's big government watching our every move," he said.

Chris Goldsmith, who works downtown, said he was most concerned with the cost to taxpayers of installing and operating the cameras.

Public spaces not private

Privacy, he said, is not necessarily a concern because "in the public you've got no expectation of privacy."

Storemski sounded a similar note, saying that all the cameras are in public spaces where people should be aware that their actions are not private.

"We live in an age right now where there's really no expectation that there would be no video in a public space," he said. "Everybody that has a cell phone has a video camera. This happens all the time. We're just doing it for public safety purposes."

The city has spent about $14 million in federal grant funding on the camera program, which it expects to finish by the end of January. The money comes from Urban Area Security Initiative funds doled out annually by Homeland Security to regions across the country, Storemski said.

In recent years, Houston has received an estimated $18 million to $20 million, money to spend on initiatives to prevent and detect terrorism.

Other projects include funding an interoperable radio system and the video network that can sustain the cameras, make footage shot by private cameras accessible to police and even take footage from a helicopter and allow first responders to see it. The latter particularly has been useful for fighting fires, Storemski said.

ID'd subway bombers

Cameras in public spaces already have proven successful in major worldwide incidents, such as identifying suspects in the 2005 subway bombings in London, he said.

In Chicago, dispatchers already have access to cameras and can provide descriptions to police arriving at a scene.

Some Houstonians on Wednesday responded favorably to the camera program.

Julio Flores, a waiter at a downtown skyscraper, said he felt more comfortable knowing that surveillance camera footage could be used to solve crimes or to track suspects.

Judith Hanson, who was visiting downtown to watch her daughter's performance at the Wortham Center, said the cameras could provide comfort to women who come to the area.

"Just knowing that there is a camera just makes me feel a little bit safer," she said.

http://www.chron.com...an/7310659.html

[anitarose]

This doesn't surprise me. A couple of years ago Tampa installed cameras, and now they are all over Hillsborough county...the thing that aggravates me is the fact that they have now installed video and audio equipment in my SCHOOL. There's no privacy ANYWHERE now....

a.

[ted]

A lot of what we consider new or just now being established concerning a police state has been around for over a century now. One reason we are seeing more of it is due to instantaneous news exposure. Another reason is that technology is always evolving or advancing, making things possible that were not before.

Many of us simply accepted some very restricting legislation under the Bush administration, but are yet complaining about the very same practices under the Obama administration. I have to admit that I was very dismissive when it came to arguments against some of these measures. After some reflection I can see how there is little difference between the two administrations. There is no intention of "change" here. The US Government will, above all else, take measures to protect itself using all means it deems necessary. It cares very little about the collateral damage, nor about the rights of individuals whether or not those individuals happen to agree with it's methods or not.

So while it seems that the power grab currently being conducted may seem unprecedented, one only has to casually glance back to previous administrations to see the evidence that shows it's been going on for much longer than the past two regimes. Some glaringly obvious examples are the administrations of FDR, Lincoln, and Wilson.

So while it may seem like a shock that the current administration is wantonly tearing apart any semblance of hiding their intentions, the evidence has been there to show the same intentions and works have been there for much of the nation's existence. It's just now easier to see it given modern media forms such as information being sent via satellites in real time. The bad part is that information is still able to be hidden and covered up

t.

[OneLight]

Only those who have something to hide fear being exposed. We, followers of Christ, should be the first to stand up and be exposed, allowing the world to see that we have nothing to hide for we are of Christ.

[ted]

Very true. Which begs the question: If the US is to be considered a "Christian" nation, why does it conduct most of it's business, both foreign and domestic, through backroom deals and hidden language?

t.

[Rick-Parker]

Very true. Which begs the question: If the US is to be considered a "Christian" nation, why does it conduct most of it's business, both foreign and domestic, through backroom deals and hidden language?

t.

Because our political leaders and big businesses are corrupt and the people are unwilling to do anything about it because they are self-centered.

[nebula]

I just saw a YouTube video of a woman who requested her breast milk not be X-Rayed. According to TSA guidelines, medical fluids are allowed a different screening method, and breast milk is included. Instead of the special screening, they forced the woman to wait in the holding area long enough for her to miss her flight.

When someone did speak to her, he insisted the milk be X-Rayed or dumped.

I am getting more and more leery of these X-Rays. I mean, WHY is it that people are being harassed who refuse the X-Rays? What is is about the X-Rays that they are bullying everyone into?

If you want to see the video, look for "TSA Breast Milk Screening Harassment Updated" by newport81

Oh, and at the end it mentioned the tapes cut out the part where the TSA guy had her write down her personal info, and he pocketed it. And they photographed the breast millk.

[Matthitjah]

It's called conditioning sis. It's called conditioning.

[nebula]

Yeah . . . so what's next?

[OneLight]

Fear is what comes next, if it isn't already embedded in this train of thought.