Laughing Boy wrote:
] ] Tampa police have scrapped their controversial security
] ] camera system that scanned city streets for criminals,
] ] citing its failure over two years to recognize anyone
] ] wanted by authorities.
] ]
] ] The system was intended to recognize the facial
] ] characteristics of felons, sexual predators and runaway
] ] children by matching passers-by in Ybor City with a
] ] database of 30,000 mug shots.
] ]
] ] "It's just proven not to have any benefit to us," Capt.
] ] Bob Guidara, a department spokesman, said Tuesday. The
] ] cameras have led only to arrests for such crimes as drug
] ] deals.
] ]
] ] Tampa was the first city in the United States to install
] ] the permanent camera surveillance system along public
] ] streets and the technology was used during the 2001 Super
] ] Bowl.
] ]
] ] Critics welcomed the end of the program.
] ]
] ] "It's a relief," said Darlene Williams, chairwoman of the
] ] Greater Tampa Chapter of the ACLU. "Any time you have
] ] this sort of technology on public streets, you are
] ] subjecting people who come to Ybor to an electronic
] ] police lineup, without any kind of probable cause."
]
] YAY!! Chalk up a win for civil liberties... at least for now.
] If in say 5 to 10 years the facial recogition biometrics have
] improved substantially, expect us to face this beast all over
] again.
]
] LB

hear hear!