TAMPA UTILIZING HIGH-TECH SYSTEM TO CATCH CRIMINALS.

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Saturday, June 30, 2001

The cameras have the ability to tilt, pan and capture digital images of anyone within range.

 

 

 

 

The Control Center in Ybor City where police remotely scan the sea of faces in the popular entertainment area.

It sounds like something straight out of George Orwell’s novel, '1984.'

Police, using pole-mounted, remotely-controlled surveillance cameras, scan crowds of people and feed their digital images into a massive databank with the purpose of finding a match on anyone with an outstanding arrest warrant. Sounds pretty futuristic say some.

The future is now.

Actually, the future is right here in the Bay area. The Tampa Police Department has installed the cameras and the digital databank system in Ybor City. It’s completely operational and police say it’s completely legal. Visionics, the company that maintains the database of digital images boasts an electronic “library” of over 100-million people.

Click here to visit the Visionics, Inc. Web site.

Click here to visit the Tampa Police Department Web site.

View the Tampa Bay Convention and Visitor's Bureau Web site.

©2001 Bay News 9®