[Infowarrior] - US has 30 billion surveillance cams on 'terror' watch

Tue Aug 8 09:24:24 EDT 2006

 Video cameras on the lookout for terrorists

Monday, August 7, 2006; Posted: 2:52 p.m. EDT (18:52 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/08/07/terrorism.technology.ap/index.html

NISKAYUNA, New York (AP) -- It sounds like something out of science fiction.

Researchers at General Electric Co.'s sprawling research center, are
creating new "smart video surveillance" systems that can detect explosives
by recognizing the electromagnetic waves given off by objects, even under
clothing.

Scientist Peter Tu and his team are also developing programs that can
recognize faces, pinpoint distress in a crowd by honing in on erratic body
movements and synthesize the views of several cameras into one bird's eye
view, as part of a growing effort to thwart terrorism.

"We're definitely on the cutting edge," said Tu, 39. "If you want to reduce
risk, video is the way to do it. The threat is always evolving, so our video
is always evolving."

Scientists at the GE complex, a landscaped, gated campus of laboratories and
offices spread out over 525 acres and home to 1,900 scientists and staff,
and others in the industry hope to use various technologies to reduce false
alarms, cut manpower used on mundane tasks and give first-responders better
tools to assess threats. The country's growing security needs also provide
an opportunity to boost business.

The United States and its allies now face a new "Iraq generation" of
terrorists who have learned how to make explosive devices, assassinate
leaders and carry out other mayhem since the U.S. invasion of the country
more than three years ago, said Roger Cressey, a former counterterrorism
official in the Bush Administration who now runs his own consulting business
in Arlington, Virginia.

"These people are far more adept and capable in many respects than al-Qaeda
before 9-11," he said. "They don't appear in any no-fly list or terrorism
data base."

Since 2002, GE has spent $4 billion buying smaller businesses to take a
bigger share of the $160 billion global security industry, a market that
includes everything from building security to narcotics detection. The
company expects $2 billion in revenue from its security businesses this
year. That should rise to $2.8 billion in 2009, said Louis Parker, chief
executive of GE's security unit.

Philadelphia-based Acoustech Corp. and Providence-Based FarSounder Inc.
received Homeland Security grants to develop systems that can detect
underwater threats such as divers with explosives.

"Ever since the Department of Homeland Security was put into place, our
business has gone up," said James McConnell of Acoustech. The three-person
company takes in $500,000 in revenue a year.

Systems currently run about $1 million from other vendors so the companies
are trying to make systems that would be more affordable for port
authorities and other waterfront facilities around the country such as power
plants and oil refineries.

"We've had a lot of customers calling and asking for a solution to the
problem," said FarSounder founder Matthew Zimmerman.

Such cost-saving measures could benefit New York City, which in June, had
its share of federal anti-terrorism grants from the Department of Homeland
Security cut by 40 percent to $124.5 million.

Cressey said the country has to find the best ways to protect itself and
that includes investing in new technologies for things like ports, airports
and mass transit systems.

The U.S. government is spending $1.1 billion this year to fund
anti-terrorism technology research and has spent about $3 billion over the
past three years, said Christopher Kelly, a DHS spokesman.

At General Electric, researchers are working on software that allows cameras
to separately track people and the items they are carrying to help detect
when suspicious packages are left in airports, stadiums and other public
places.

One such system is already being tested using video from London's Victoria
train station, part of the transit system hit by suicide bombers in July
2005 in which 52 people were killed and another 740 wounded.

Cressey said there are about 30 million video surveillance cameras in the
United States shooting about four billion hours of footage every week.
Relying more on computers to go through that footage would allow manpower to
be better used elsewhere and perhaps lead to faster recognition of possible
threats.

Among numerous other projects, GE is working on baggage scanners that use
advanced X-ray and CT technologies to detect traces of explosives faster and
with greater accuracy and shoe scanners that use quadrupole resonance,
similar to magnetic resonance imaging, to improve screening of passengers'
shoes while they are still on their feet.

Still, many officials warn that technology cannot replace humans entirely.

"You can't get too reliant on these things," said state Sen. Michael
Balboni, a Long Island Republican and chairman of the Senate's committee
that oversees homeland security issues. "If someone finds a way to bypass
them, they can use the technology against us. You have to expect that
enemies will find ways to get around it."