Bloomberg Off To London on CCTV Fact Finding Mission
Mayor In London, Meets With Police Chief And Examine City’s Security System Consisting Of 500,000 Cameras
Fact: Average Londoner Can Be Filmed 300 Times In A Single Day
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has his eye on more security against terror attacks. He went to London Tuesday to check out their surveillance camera system, one of the largest in the world.
Ever since the Times Square car bomb scare on May 1, the mayor’s been looking to build up New York’s camera network.
That means adding to the ring of steel in Times Square, similar to central London’s. The mayor said more NYPD surveillance cameras may prevent another terror scare.
London has 500,000 surveillance cameras, more than any other city in the world.
Bloomberg visited London’s mayor to see how these help Britain fight terror.
“We live in a world of suicide bombers. We live in a world of international terrorism,” Bloomberg said.
And a world where both cities have been targets. Bloomberg came to take a closer look at the sprawling security network throughout London — known as the “Ring of Steel.” The mayor’s hoping to beef up New York’s own surveillance system in the wake of the failed car bomb attack in Times Square.
“It’s not clear that they would have helped in Times Square. Other than if the perpetrator knew there were cameras, he might not have tried to come into Times Square,” Bloomberg said.
London’s about the same size as New York and its transit systems handle roughly the same number of people every day.
Nearly everywhere you look in London, there’s someone or some “thing” looking right back at you. In fact, you could be caught on camera as many as 300 times in the course of one day.
Cameras record the license plate of every single car that enters the capital. Yet it didn’t stop terrorists from planting a car bomb outside this downtown nightclub three years ago. It failed to go off.
“Nobody’s going to make the world perfectly safe, but wouldn’t you rather be somewhat safer?” Bloomberg said.
He’s banking on it as he plans to take “Big Brother Britain” back to New York City.
London’s “Ring of Steel” was the inspiration for the 3,000-camera network being installed in lower Manhattan and Midtown. The NYPD hopes all the cameras are installed by the end of 2011.
Source: WCBS TV
Tags: big brother, CCTV, London, New York City, surveillance
