Security and Surveillance

The word surveillance comes from the French word for “watching over€œ.Surveillance is very useful to governments and law enforcement to maintain social control, recognize and monitor threats, and prevent/investigate criminal activity.Surveillance cameras such as these are installed by the millions in many countries, and are nowadays monitored by automated computer programs instead of humans.Governments often initially claim that cameras are meant to be used for traffic control, but many of them end up using them for general surveillance. For example, Washington, D.C. had 5000 “traffic” cameras installed under this premise, and then after they were all in place, networked them all together and then granted access to the Metropolitan Police Department, so that they could perform “day-to-day monitoring”.The development of centralized networks of CCTV cameras watching public areas€”linked to computer databases of people’s pictures and identity (biometric data), able to track peoples’ movements throughout the city, and identify who they have been with€”has been argued by some to present a risk to civil liberties

Citywide surveillance is for an entire population of a city, or a substantial fraction thereof. Modern governments today commonly perform mass surveillance of their citizens, explaining that they believe that it is necessary to protect them from dangerous groups such as terrorists, criminals, or political subversives and to maintain social control. Mass surveillance has been widely criticized on several grounds such as violations of privacy rights, illegality, and for preventing political and social freedoms, which some fear will ultimately lead to a totalitarian state where political dissent is crushed by COINTELPRO-like programs. Such a state may also be referred to as an Electronic Police State.

Thermal imaging cameras are widely used for Homeland Security. Thanks to their ability to detect human-sized targets several kilometers away, they are extremely suited for border surveillance and protection. Some Systems thermal imaging cameras can detect human-sized targets at a distance of practically 20 kilometers away.
Protecting a country€™s borders is vital to its Homeland Security. It is, however, very challenging to detect potential intruders or smugglers in total darkness or in diverse weather conditions. Thermal imaging cameras can help border control professionals to meet the demands they face at night and in other low-light situations. Thermal imaging cameras can be integrated in a border security project with radars and other sensors in a so called €œslew-to-cue€ mode.
But not only land borders need to be protected. Thermal imaging cameras are the perfect tools for coastal surveillance as well. Small vessels can be detected at extremely long ranges.