New York City To Expand It's Surveillance Net To Fight Crime As Well As Terrorism

NYPD Expands Surveillance Net To Fight Crime As Well As Terrorism -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Having developed one of the most sophisticated surveillance networks in the United States, the New York Police Department is now expanding its use, giving local precinct commanders new powers to fight street crime with high-tech tools previously used only in counterterrorism operations.

"The technology, having been inspired and engineered with a sense of urgency after 9/11, has obvious applications to conventional crime fighting," said Paul Browne, chief NYPD spokesman. "That is in the process of being expanded citywide, for what - after all - is our primary mission, which is to fight crime."

New York is among a handful of big U.S. cities that have been developing extensive surveillance networks in recent years using federal anti-terrorism funding. New York's network was initially modeled after London's so-called 'Ring of Steel,' the most extensive surveillance camera network anywhere.

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My Comment: When NSA officials boast that their surveillance programs helped stop plots against the NYSE and the New York subway .... I suspect that it is only a matter of time before such "surveillance nets" are not only installed permanently in New York City, but (also) in most American cities.