Fecal Recognition

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Crime center proposal would add closed-circuit cameras to help TPD patrol streets, large events

So as city officials contemplate how to spend millions of dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funds, Chief Wendell Franklin has an idea:
Use some of the money to establish a real-time crime information center that would include the use of closed-circuit television surveillance cameras.

Maj. Mark Wollmershauser Jr. said cameras would be just one tool used in the information center.
“There is a slew of technology that would feed into the real-time crime information center, and cameras are just one part of that,” he said.

Closed-circuit television surveillance isn’t new. Homeowners, businesses and city governments around the world are using CCTV to keep an eye out for trouble. But that hasn’t quelled the concerns of those who see the cameras as government overreach and an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

The Police Department has made no decisions on how many cameras it would need or where they would be placed, Wollmershauser said. The plan is to gradually deploy them at mass gatherings and other big events to give the public a better understanding of how they work and their potential benefits.

The extent to which the technology prevents crimes in public spaces remains a subject of debate.
“There is inconclusive evidence regarding the effects on personal crime and public order crimes” (A 2006 study says) “CCTV is more effective when used in small, well-defined spaces.”

CCTV systems can be either active or passive. An active system is monitored in real time, while a passive system records video, but the video is viewed only if a crime is reported.

Wollmershauser indicated it’s too soon to know how TPD’s cameras would be monitored.
“It would be monitored whatever is best for the return,” he said. “Again, that is all based off of us having the manpower to do so.”

A recent study by Comparitech, a pro-consumer technology website, found that 770 million surveillance cameras are in use worldwide, with 54% of them in China.

In a review of the 50 most populated cities in the U.S. — for which only 39 had available data — Comparitech found that almost 270,000 cameras are monitoring approximately 44 million people. Atlanta is keeping the closest watch on its residents, with 48.93 cameras per 1,000 people, and Chicago has the most cameras, with 32,000.
The top five surveilled cities in the U.S., according to Comparitech, are Atlanta, Philadelphia, Denver, Washington and San Francisco.

Nicole McAfee, director of advocacy and policy for ACLU Oklahoma, said the organization is always concerned when CCTV is proposed as a policing tool.

“I think there needs to be a clear understanding how invasive it is, that in discussion around CCTV, it has often been discussed as more invasive than a wiretap or a phone tap,” McAfee said. “I think there needs to be a clear understanding of how susceptible it is to sort of be hacked and have that video not protected, and how much it just puts people in a vulnerable position where they are sort of giving up their privacy without any say in it based on wherever people decide to ultimately place these cameras.”

Wollmershauser said the Police Department would establish policies and procedures to govern the use of the cameras.

City Councilor Lori Decter Wright said she knows little about the proposal but believes it is important to have a detailed public discussion of the issue before taking any action.
“We need a lot more information,” she said. “What cities do it? What do they use it for? What are the outcomes? Is crime reduced, and are communities safer when 24/7 video surveillance is used?”

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes $350 billion for states, counties, cities and tribal territories to mitigate economic harm, including the loss of revenue, caused by the pandemic.
The city has been told it will receive $87.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds over the next two years. The mayor, his staff and a City Council subcommittee have been meeting regularly to prioritize how the funds might be spent.

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/tulsa-police-chief-proposes-setting-up-crime-information-center-with-surveillance-camera-network/article_8edd6076-e0e4-11eb-99ef-db9149230b5e.html



The City of Tulsa is warning residents that the hackers behind a ransomware attack on its systems in May have shared sensitive files on the dark web.
The authorities said on Tuesday that the attackers have published more than 18,000 files on the dark web “mostly in the form of police citations and internal department files”.
The police citations contain personal identifiable information (PII) such as name, date of birth, address and driver’s license number, although social security numbers were not included.
The City is advising residents that anyone who has filed a police report, received a police citation, made a payment within the City, or interacted with the City in any way where PII was shared, “whether online, in-person or on paper” should take monitoring precautions.
This includes monitoring financial accounts, issuing a fraud alert, and changing passwords.

https://www.itpro.co.uk/security/ransomware/359970/tulsa-ransomware-attackers-publish-18000-files-on-dark-web
https://www.cityoftulsa.org/press-room/ransomware-update-june-22-tulsa-police-citations-posted-on-dark-web-tulsa-residents-should-take-necessary-precautions/

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A group of city leaders is headed to Las Vegas, Nevada, later this month to take a look at that desert community’s real-time crime information center.

Mayor G.T. Bynum, who is making the trip with Police Chief Wendell Franklin, two city councilors and other city officials Feb. 24-26, said Franklin pitched the idea of establishing such a facility in Tulsa when he took office in early 2020.

“I really want to go out and see what they are utilizing in Las Vegas and how we might apply it here,” Bynum said. “But it says a lot to me that our chief of police, when he first came into his job, one of the very first things he wanted to do was to get one of these deployed to help officers in the field make Tulsa a safer place.”

Bynum said the real-time information center, as Tulsa police are calling it, would allow the Tulsa Police Department to use a network of cameras to monitor situations around town in real time and to provide video that could be used to identify suspects and follow up on leads.

Bynum and Police Capt. Jacob Johnston said there are no plans for the real-time information center to include facial recognition technology.

Councilors Phil Lakin and Lori Decter Wright are scheduled to make the trip to Las Vegas with the mayor, police chief and other officials.



So naturally the Mayor plans his informational junket in one of the biggest users of Facial Recognition technology: Las Vegas.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/12/1006676/police-face-recognition-vegas-miami-new-york/