Secret surveillance: Baltimore police spy on residents using Persistent Surveillance Systems - TomoNews
- 8 years ago
BALTIMORE — Baltimore police acknowledged that the city residents had been unknowingly under aerial surveillance since January.
According to the Guardian, the programme was privated funded between Persistent Surveillance Systems and the Baltimore city police. The practise was first revealed by Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg, the Persistent Surveillance Systems include about six cameras positioned at different angles attached to the bottom of a plane.
The plane would fly above the city in a circular orbit that allows the cameras to take pictures of 32 square miles of the city.
The pictures taken by the six cameras are then stitched together to form 192-megapixel images and are continuously transmitted to a ground station.
As the images are constantly updated, the analysts on the ground could track vehicles or suspect to see their movements prior or after the crime.
Baltimore police spokesman TJ Smith told the Guardian that it was “was not a secret surveillance program” and “there was no conspiracy not to disclose it”, despite the fact that not even the mayor nor the city council were informed about the program.
It was disclosed that the systems was used for 100 hours between January and February and 200 hours over the summer. The police department will evaluate whether to use the systems permanently.
According to the Guardian, the programme was privated funded between Persistent Surveillance Systems and the Baltimore city police. The practise was first revealed by Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg, the Persistent Surveillance Systems include about six cameras positioned at different angles attached to the bottom of a plane.
The plane would fly above the city in a circular orbit that allows the cameras to take pictures of 32 square miles of the city.
The pictures taken by the six cameras are then stitched together to form 192-megapixel images and are continuously transmitted to a ground station.
As the images are constantly updated, the analysts on the ground could track vehicles or suspect to see their movements prior or after the crime.
Baltimore police spokesman TJ Smith told the Guardian that it was “was not a secret surveillance program” and “there was no conspiracy not to disclose it”, despite the fact that not even the mayor nor the city council were informed about the program.
It was disclosed that the systems was used for 100 hours between January and February and 200 hours over the summer. The police department will evaluate whether to use the systems permanently.