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November 28, 2006

More Cameras at Chicago's Port

From ABC7Chicago.com:
The Port of Chicago will receive $11.5 million from the Department of Homeland Security. Most of the money will be spent on a network of surveillance cameras. The footage will be routed to the 911 Joint Operations Center as part of Operation Virtual Shield. Next year, the city is expected to ask for $4 million, but its not clear if this will be for additional cameras. (I would suspect probably not, because as the story shows, the biggest security problems are around inspecting cargo containers.)

I am a bit confused and hopefully followup articles will clarify these issues. I don't understand why the Port of Chicago is routing its footage to the 911 center. From my perspective, port security and addressing crime in city neighborhoods are two very different tasks. For example, the Port of Baltimore relies on Vistascape to provide perimeter security, according to GCN. The Port also has "real-time intrusion detection technology and thermal and low-light cameras will allow security personnel to monitor fences, terminals, gates, and piers in order to respond to suspicious activities". Monitoring these systems would best be done by people intimately familiar with the port and the routine activities. I don't know why Chicago would have regular camera personnel in the 911 center watching and responding to alerts at the port. Its a mismatch. I assume there is a good reason for routing everything to the 911 center, such as its ability to archive and access footage. But I am curious how the cameras will be monitored.

Posted by rshah at November 28, 2006 08:04 PM

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