"Pentagon Project Could Keep Close Eye on Cities"  
Philadelphia Inquirer (07/02/03) P. A2; Sniffen, Michael J.  

The Pentagon's Combat Zones That See (CTS) project aims to 
safeguard U.S. troops and enhance battle tactics through a combination 
of computers and surveillance cameras set up to monitor and study 
each vehicle moving throughout foreign urban areas. Scientists, law 
enforcement officers, and privacy advocates note that the technology 
could also be used to watch the movements of American citizens.  

"Government would have a reasonably good idea of where everyone is 
most of the time," warns GlobalSecurity.org defense analyst John Pike. 
At the heart of the system is a software program that can automatically 
identify vehicles based on their size, shape, color, and license tag, 
and can also recognize drivers and passengers by face; in addition, the 
software can transmit alerts if a monitored vehicle's tag is on a watch 
list, and sift through copious records to locate and compare vehicles 
seen near the sites of terrorist incidents.  

Jan Walker of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) 
insists that CTS technology was not designed with local law enforcement 
or homeland security in mind, and employing it for any other purpose 
would require sweeping alterations. Nevertheless, Steven Aftergood 
of the Federation of American Scientists remarks, "One can easily 
foresee pressure to adopt a similar approach to crime-ridden areas 
of American cities or to the Super Bowl or any site where crowds 
gather."  

New York deputy police commissioner James Fyfe adds that police will 
be eager to adopt such technologies. DARPA is planning to spend up to 
$12 million to deploy CTS technology over four years: Phase one will 
involve the installation of about 30 computer-connected cameras in a 
fixed site to enhance troop protection; phase two will set up at least 
100 cameras to support military operations, and incorporate software 
that analyzes video footage to distinguish between routine and abnormal  
activity. www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/nation/6214289.htm

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News Summary should be cited as the source of the information.  
Copyright 2003, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD.

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Source: NLECTC - http://www.nlectc.org/justnetnews/weeklynews.html


Cheers, Steve..

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