Say CHEESE!
Photo Ticket Cameras to Track Drivers Nationwide
Private companies in the US are hoping to use red light cameras and speed cameras as the basis for a nationwide surveillance network similar to one that will be active next year in the UK. Redflex and American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the top two photo enforcement providers in the US, are quietly shopping new motorist tracking options to prospective state and local government clients. Redflex explained the company’s latest developments in an August 7 meeting with Homestead, Florida officials.
“We are moving into areas such as homeland security on a national level and on a local level,” Redflex regional director Cherif Elsadek said. “Optical character recognition is our next roll out which will be coming out in a few months — probably about five months or so.”
The technology would be integrated with the Australian company’s existing red light camera and speed camera systems. It allows officials to keep full video records of passing motorists and their passengers, limited only by available hard drive space and the types of cameras installed. To gain public acceptance, the surveillance program is being initially sold as an aid for police looking to solve Amber Alert cases and locate stolen cars.
“Imagine if you had 1500 or 2000 cameras out there that could look out for the partial plate or full plate number across the 21 states where we do business today,” Elsadek said. “This is the next step for our technology.”
Of course, this Australian company has been unsuccessful in obtaining contracts to do this in … Australia!
Since we have nothing to hide why do these companies insist on looking? Oh yeah, money. America is now a fascist government so look for these on a pole near you soon. Thank your local politician for letting it happen.
I’m thinking paint ball gun.
@#1: As I have posted few times on related stories, it is not only foreign companies that do this. What is worse, Govt. is closely following in their tracks. Example from my area: NYC EZPass system we, commuters pay for to pay road/bridge tools electronically. Early on, separate private company got a deal with EZPass and installed tracking receivers around all major highways in NYS. No one knows to whom and how and for what purpose they give the data collected. Well, few years later, City Govt. inspired by this “success” have installed their own EZPass tracking system “to track road congestion” on major city roads. Note that in order to do that they need to record your ID and match it down the road. Quite the equivalent of taking pictures of your license plate and tracking it. It is here,… (and the video cameras are coming too).
These type of systems are being applied to traffic police cars in pilot programs in some major cities. The squad car can drive through normal traffic processing most plates in both directions of the street. Also, driving through mall parking lots it can analyze plates on both sides of the squad car.
The government that has an opportunity to look will not be able to turn away… even when there is nothing worth watching.
The biggest danger here is what the traffic cams do to the age-old concept of probable cause. It will go the same route of our treasured habeus corpus.
All that being said, American citizens have never had the expectation of privacy in a public place.
Wouldn’t it be easier to just put electronic tags everyone and just monitor the tags? you can have software that detected if any person was going over 50 MPH and give them a ticket… you could probably even have the software talk to traffic lights and detect if someone was crossing them when they were red….
funny, that freeway is just a couple miles from my aunt and uncles house. drove that stretch of highway a number of times when i was out to visit them a few years back.
The companies providing red light surveillance service here in the States were finding out that they’re a lousy source of revenue. Oh, they bring in a fair amount at first, but as motorists wised up the law of diminishing returns cuts in … fewer miscreants, less money. You can’t fine law-abiding citizens, after all. Here where I live the red-light cameras have all disappeared.
So it’s natural for these snooper companies to look for new sources of revenue, but since they don’t know how to do anything else but monitor cameras, they prevail on local authorities to do something more — like keep tabs on EVERYone’s movements, on the assumption that the most law-abiding of us has to be breaking a law somewhere. It’s nothing but a revenue source.
What are they trying to prove with a camera on a highway? Oh look you drove down I95 on Tuesday. Why weren’t you at work?
#2 wifi Jammers would be easier. http://is.gd/2XLS
That the revenue from red light cameras is subject to diminishing returns is well documented.
But, since there is one of these setups 2 blocks from my house, I have to question how it relates to the collision frequency. I cross the intersection at least twice a day, often many more times, including many on foot. The number of cars skidding to a halt is substantial, and since I live close enough, I can hear the ambulances when there is an injury crash. They have certainly increased.
Funny thing is that before the cameras, there was usually a motorcycle cop hiding behind the Jack-in-the-Box. I wonder what he’s up to these days? Busting people for pot?
You’re talking about a level of coordination our government clearly can’t handle. But stay afraid, it’s funny.
Creepy. So it’s more than just the revenue generating aspects of these – now it’s the snooping.
That said, there’s devices to give you an advance warning when you’re getting near one of these – a gentle reminder if you will – they’re GPS locators for red light and speed cameras.
See http://www.redlightcameradetector.com
thats MY FREAKING exit in that article photo!!
Surveillance is going to happen and as long as it’s passive (cameras in public areas) I believe it to be a good thing. Now when they try to put a RFID tag under the skin, well, they’ll have to kill me first.
Bg brother is watching you! Be good or else!
We were specifically assured around here that these cameras would never be used for these purposes.
Funny, I don’t feel so good about having never believed them now. Oh well.
Source? Other then this ‘thenewspaper’ site? They aren’t linking to any sources on the vast majority of their articles.
Every article i find on the web references ‘thenewspaper’ as their source, which is just somebody’s blog. It may very well be true, just link to the source of your information, ‘thenewspsper.’
How long do you think it will be until another Right Wing Christian NeoCon gets elected and starts requiring all citizens have tracking & incapacitating implants to be able to use credit or to get government required ID? Could be useful to protect U.S. against illegal emigrants, people with warrants or prevent identity theft. Wouldn’t it make Air Travel safer?
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=18997
There are certainly allot of security improvement arguments that can be made pro tracking implants. As always previous American precedent and character traits aren’t relevant anymore, because; as a whole American’s are more sheep then independent thinker from years past.
American’s want security not liberty, Bush has proven that.
also in the Wash. DC suburbs one jurisdiction which justified purchase of their high-tech photo license plate reader system to fight “car-jacking” and similar heinous crimes has been reported recently as mainly using it to catch & ticket folks whose inspection stickers have expired. It is so much sexier to sell anti-car-jacking or anti-kiddie-porn than just nailing dufuses with expired stickers.
HEIL!
Ha! That’s the exit for 234 to Manassas/Dumfries (yes, I know. Two weird names). I live just down the road from there. The Trafficland.com cameras come in handy as they are internet accessible, and I can use them to judge traffic congestion. That’s not a red light camera. I suppose it could be used for plate ID, but the pictures are not very clear. I suppose it’s clearer at VDOT before it’s pushed out over the internet.