Exclusive: How DC police use citizens as spies

[mitty14u2]

The company, formerly known as Abraxas Corp., markets its technology to local law enforcement, federal agencies and private corporations. TrapWire has been installed in 65 locations around the United States, according to the company’s website, including Washington, D.C., where it is being used by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

But TrapWire has become a lightning rod for civil libertarian groups and other critics who see its technology — and law enforcement’s hunger for it — as a symptom of a creeping surveillance state in the age of the so-called war on terrorism. That feeling has only been strengthened in the wake of the leaks by Edward Snowden, the former contractor with the National Security Agency who revealed details of mass data trawling by U.S. spy agencies and those of other countries.

There also seemed, in some reports, to be an element of racial profiling (read the original documents). For example, on Sept. 8, 2011, TrapWire processed a report that read, “Mrs. (redacted), a concerned citizen reports that a Middle Eastern male was walking back and forth on the train looking out the doors and checking his watch. He exited at Arlington Metro station (blue line). That male was described as 5'4", med 20s, 170 lbs, medium complexion last seen wearing a blue long sleeve shirt, black pants and glasses carrying a olive back pack with black stripes.”

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/12/17/exclusive-how-dcpoliceusecitizensasspies.html

This is how it starts, we are getting ready for what, a police state? Dont Worry be Happy, they are not coming for you Yet!

[mitty14u2]

1. TrapWire: The Less-Than-Advertised System To Spy On Americans

SuspiciousousTrapWire?

While it’s been widely described as a Minority Report-like, global facial-recognition surveillance system to predict your every move, it’s actually much less exciting than that. TrapWire is kind of predictive, but it doesn’t apparently rely on facial recognition—probably because the company isn’t very good at that particular technology yet. It’s not necessarily worldwide, though its list of reported users is pretty extensive: Las Vegas casinos, #10 Downing Street, the New York City subway system (though the Department has flatly denied using the system), the LAPD, Washington, D.C., and all of Texas. Basically, TrapWire uses whatever closed-circuit cameras the user can access (like those domed security cameras on the ceilings of grocery stores, in the subway, and, well, everywhere else) to monitor activity.

Nothing new so far; security cameras tend to do that kind of thing. But here’s where it gets interesting: “suspicious activities” – taking pictures, making measurements, and other things that could point to a nefarious terrorist plot – can be flagged. These are combined with civilian reports aggregated by the software (think “If you see something, say something”), and assessed by TrapWire analysts.

The resulting “suspicious activity reports” are sent to the user and any relevant law enforcement, including the Department of Homeland Security. The idea is to catch potential terrorists before they actually do anything and to connect geographically dispersed plotters and plots. Or that, at least, was Stratfor’s sales pitch about the system, and what the Web was responding to.

When did this whole thing start?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/14/trapwire-the-less-than-advertised-system-to-spy-on-americans.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews#url=/articles/2012/08/14/trapwire-the-less-than-advertised-system-to-spy-on-americans.html

Sounds to me if something happens a bunch of people are going to be hauled in, like the old line ups seen on TV shows and movies, over aggressive police just say we got them and off to jail, this sounds dangerous. Oh well, its jobs for some and jail for others and all can have a fuzzy feeling about being save, but fear for others that are in the wrong place at the wrong time.