Wednesday, August 26, 2009

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License Plate Recognition System Used For Homeland Security


Posted: 26 Aug 2009 12:49 AM PDT




license_plate_recognition


Is it a boon to public safety? Or a disturbing new chapter in
the Brave New World of law enforcement? Depending on how it’s deployed, it
could be either. A new Automated License Plate Recognition system is now
in use in Lakewood: six cameras mounted on the roof of a “reader car”
scanning license plates as it rides, feeding the data to a dashboard
computer screen. An alert beeps when a vehicle the computer has flagged is
spotted, and the officer then can initiate a motor vehicle stop.


The system has been challenged in the courts, and its limited
uses to date have passed constitutional muster. Nevertheless, it should
give pause to anybody concerned about privacy rights and civil liberties.
It needs to be monitored carefully.


Ed Barocas, legal director of the American Civil Liberties
Union of New Jersey, says the chief concern is what police do with the
information they get during their patrols and how long that information is
kept and stored. Lakewood Deputy Police Chief Frederick J. Capper said the
state Attorney General’s Office makes those determinations. Unfortunately,
it has yet to issue any guidelines, and a spokesman says it won’t do so
until the State Police begin using the recognition systems — primarily as
part of its anti-gang initiative — at some unspecified date. That’s hardly
reassuring.


Lakewood, one of the first local police departments in the
state to use the technology, received a $30,000 federal grant for the
system from the federal Department of Homeland Security and state
Department of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Lakewood Police Chief
Frederick Capper said counterterrorism is the primary purpose of the
cameras. Lakewood has several sites deemed potential targets, including
Kimball Medical Center and Beth Medrash Govoha, one of the world’s largest
Orthodox institutions for Talmudic studies.


Source


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.

License Plate Recognition System Used For Homeland Security






H1N1 Flu Serious Health Threat To U.S.- White House


Posted: 26 Aug 2009 12:37 AM PDT




h1n1_flu


The H1N1 flu poses a serious health threat to the United
States, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology said
in a report released on Monday.


“The report says the current strain ‘poses a serious health
threat’ to the nation. The issue is not that the virus is more deadly than
other flu strains, but rather that it is likely to infect more people than
usual because it is a new strain against which few people have immunity,”
the White House said.


Source


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.

H1N1 Flu Serious Health Threat To U.S.- White House












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