Houston's police chief wants surveillance cameras in apartment buildings

[rman]

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Police_Cameras.html
Wednesday, February 15, 2006 · Last updated 4:14 p.m. PT
Houston eyes cameras at apartment complexes
By PAM EASTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

HOUSTON -- Houston's police chief on Wednesday proposed placing surveillance cameras in apartment complexes, downtown streets, shopping malls and even private homes to fight crime during a shortage of police officers.

"I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?" Chief Harold Hurtt told reporters Wednesday at a regular briefing.

Houston is facing a severe police shortage because of too many retirements and too few recruits, and the city has absorbed 150,000 hurricane evacuees who are filling apartment complexes in crime-ridden neighborhoods. The City Council is considering a public safety tax to pay for more officers.

Building permits should require malls and large apartment complexes to install surveillance cameras, Hurtt said. And if a homeowner requires repeated police response, it is reasonable to require camera surveillance of the property, he said.

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[bluestateguy]

1. Please tell me this is from "The Onion"

This from the same county that bashed down the doors of two gay men's house to enforce the sodomy law (which was repealed in Lawrence v. Texas).

"I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?" Chief Harold Hurtt told reporters Wednesday at a regular briefing.

Anytime a politician or law enforcement officer says that red alarm bels should go off.

[MadHound]

2. Yep, here we go

Pretty soon it will be the cameras going from the halls of the apartment comlex to inside the apartments, from cameras outside the house to cameras inside the house, after all, if you're not doing anything wrong. . .

Hey, Chief Hurtt, if you're suffering from lack of police officers, start offering more money to get them to sign on. That is, after all, the capitalist way of life in this country. But noooo, we want to start watching everything and everybody.

Sorry, but no. I would fight this shit tool and nail, including shooting out any cameras on my property. Maybe though, just maybe this will be the one thing that will wake people up. Too much like Big Brother and 1984 for peoples' comfort. Let's hope so.

[bluestateguy]

3. That Police Chief might find a job opening in North Korea

since he seems to share their values.

[rman]

4. One way to sneak cameras in people homes

is digital flat screen TV.

Digital means traffic can go both ways.

Flat screen (LCD) means it's relatively easy to embed a camera in the screen.

LCD TV is becoming mainstream.
Digital TV is a few years in the future. I recall hearing about the govt. having some sense of urgency regarding introduction of digital TV.

:tinfoilhat:

[madokie]

8. Not doubting you just would like to read this in a little more detail

could you provide a link please, thanks

[rman]

9. The technology part is just that: technology

Digital TV will come via a digital network (like internet). Networks are two-way by their nature. Ie TIVO is two-way.
Digital cameras can be made very small - just take apart a webcam to see how small the actual sensor is. It'd be trivial to hide it amongst the (fairly large) pixels of an LCD flatscreen TV. It'd be part of the design of the screen, can be mass produced just as easily.

As to the govt wanting to have digital TV introduced, i'm pretty sure i have the press release stored somewhere but i have trouble finding it. A quick google turned this up:

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the FCC has a website promoting digital TV
http://dtv.gov/


Analog TV shutdown all but set for 2009
Posted Feb 2nd 2006 10:22AM by Marc Perton
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/02/analog-tv-shutdown-all-but-set-for-2009/

Mark your calendar for February 17, 2009. That's the date set by Congress, as part of a sweeping budget-cutting bill, that broadcasters will be mandated to shut down their analog broadcasts (both the Senate and broadcasters had previously agreed to the date, so the bill now only awaits the President's signature to become law). However, if you can't bear to part with that old Philco or Admiral, you won't have to toss it. The government will be setting aside $1.5 billion in subsidies to help consumers get converters to allow older analog sets to receive digital broadcasts. And, no, you can't request a piece of that to pick up a 60-inch plasma, so don't even think about it.


February 16, 2005 | Paul Thurrott , Keith Furman | Getting Connected
Government Pushes Digital TV Migration
http://www.connectedhomemedia.com/Articles/Print.cfm?ArticleID=45438&Path=Visual

President George W. Bush's most recent budget proposal included a new plan that could help speed the transition of TV broadcasts from analog to digital, but the plan won't find many fans among broadcasters. Bush is proposing that, beginning in 2007, broadcasters pay a $500 million fee for the privilege of using analog TV signals. When Congress planned the digital broadcast migration in 1997, it enacted legislation that required broadcasters to switch their TV signals from analog to digital by the end of the 2006 or when 85 percent of American TV viewers could receive digital signals--whichever comes later. The transition has been slow; many broadcasts are dragging their feet and say that the 85 percent number is an unreachable goal. The new plan is designed to jump-start the industry into a realistic and aggressive transition, as well as help fill government budget deficits. The government hopes to auction the valuable frequencies that analog TV currently uses for other telecommunication applications, such as high-speed wireless Internet. The auction is projected to raise as much as $100 billion. The broadcasting industry has a lot of powerful political support, so don't expect it to give up without a fight. Let's hope the possibility of a large fee will get the ball rolling more quickly.


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Whichever the case may be, it looks like this won't be left to "market forces".

[Hubert Flottz]

5. Pervert!

They always want to peep!

[TommyO]

6. Tell ya what, Hurtt,

Why don't you be the first to volunteer to put a camera into your bedroom, and let's see how it works out.

[wake.up.america]

7. What the country needs are better jobs, better schools, better decsion...

makers, more common sense, more love, better health programs and less surveillance cameras,less wiretaps and less greed.

You don't have to be a rocket-science to figure out why crime is increasing and how to stop it.

But then, like so much else in America, it's "throw money at it", so a few people can make a killing.

[Swamp Rat]

10. I hope people smash the cameras to pieces when they see them!

We MUST stop Big Brother!!! NOW!!!