Department of Homeland Security Granting Millions for Surveillance Cameras

The Department of Homeland Security is handing over millions of dollars to local governments to buy high-tech surveillance camera networks to combat terrorism. The cameras can keep streets and parks under constant observation and help thwart terrorist attacks or track down perpetrators. The department won’t say exactly how much money is being spent on the surveillance systems. But an investigation by the Boston Globe found that at least tens and probably hundreds of millions of dollars are being spread around the country for those systems as part of Homeland Security grants. In the past month alone, St. Paul, Minn., received a $1.2 million grant for 60 cameras to be positioned downtown, and Pittsburgh got $2.58 million for 83 cameras, the Globe reports. Big cities including New York and Chicago are building large-scale surveillance systems that could also link thousands of privately owned security cameras. A project launched in October 2004 to install 1,000 closed-circuit cameras with 3,000 sensors in the New York City subway system is expected to be completed in 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier. The city already has more than 3,000 cameras in housing projects. Even small towns are getting a share of the Homeland Security Department’s money. For example, Liberty, Kans. – population 95 – got a grant to install a surveillance camera in its park.