Transportation departments want surveillance blimps

MassPrivateI

It always begins with a trickle or in this case hot air.

When D.C. politicians and law enforcement announced they would spend nearly $3 billion in taxpayer dollars to install surveillance blimps, the first Homeland Security run Department of Transportation (DOT) announced they want one or more.

Click here, here & here to see a few examples of how DHS controls the DOT.

Through a partnership with Colorado Springs-based Sky Sentry, the Colorado DOT borrowed a 1,600-cubic-foot aerostat and equipped it with two high-definition cameras.

“It is the first department of transportation in the country to use a blimp to monitor traffic” CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford said.

The tethered balloon allowed officials to attain a view from 400 feet up, allowing a view of up to more than 10 miles. The balloon, which was located near one of the department’s node buildings, allowed anyone with access to the camera control system to view a live stream of the video and then zoom, tilt or pan the camera to get a better shot of the action.

Did you catch that? Anyone with access to the camera control system can view the live stream. This means DHS, CBP, police and firefighters will all have access to this new surveillance blimp.

“Cameras range from those made for daytime use, all the way to cameras sensitive to mid-wave infrared radiation that could differentiate a warm body from a cool background.”

The SkySentry’s real name is: “SkySentry Tactically Expedient Aerostat”  or blimp.

“Judicious placement of a SkySentry Tactically Expedient Aerostat (TEA) in support of law enforcement for both planned and impromptu public gatherings is a VERY low-cost alternative to airplanes, helicopters or numerous personnel on the ground. The view and network coverage from 500-1,000 feet aboveground can cover approximately 300 square miles—day and night–and greatly enhances situational awareness and operational effectiveness with distributed communications, data transmission, streaming video, and mission command instructions.”

A SkySentry brags about how the public can’t listen in on conversations or text messages:

“TEA’s are inexpensive to operate and completely self-contained with power, ground control stations, surveillance and communications to the outside world.”

The balloon costs about $50,000 according to officials, and a full implementation of such a project would cost about $200,000 to $300,000, considering the purchase of cameras, a trailer for the balloon, and technical considerations. A static camera implementation like what’s used elsewhere throughout the state would likely cost about $500,000 for the same performance.

The DOT completed a two-day pilot on June 11 to test the effectiveness of a camera-equipped blimp,  for the detection of and response to incidents on the state’s roadways.

This is B.S. it ALWAYS starts out with surveillance cameras are needed for public safety, don’t believe it.

On the SkySentry company ‘introduction’ section they proudly boast about their “expedient communications and surveillance products and services, enhanced with aerostats and UAVs.”

DHS and the Police Chiefs Association are working together to create a national UAV/drone surveillance program. Click here & here to read more.

According to their website, ‘SkySentry’ “established and led the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s Aerostat-based High Altitude Long Endurance Testbed for over five years.”

SkySentry has a pages devoted to law enforcement surveillance where they boast of their surveillance capabilities:

– Provide day-night surveillance over expansive areas to distances over 12 miles

Establish line-of-sight connectivity to ranges in excess of ten miles, for dozens of Operators, in varied terrain and urban conditions

– Provide telemetry links from vehicles and people—and even UAVs–to relay current situation status & photos, precise location of personnel, and mission supervisory data

Communications options provide:

– In-network and external phone connectivity. Push-to-talk (PTT) option

– Texting between participants and to outside recipients

– Streaming video from the aerostat and Operators in the disaster area

– Personal geo-location and emergency alarm options

– High bandwidth Internet reachback

-High level encrypted security, if desired

For more info. about ‘SkySentry’s’ surveillance capabilities check out the links below:

Click here to read about ‘SkySentry’s’ Port & Harbor Surveillance capabilities.
Click here to read about ‘SkySentry’s First Responder Surveillance capabilities.

Sky Sentry’s Tactical Military Surveillance capabilities are NO different than
its law enforcement capabilities and therein lies the problem. Military surveillance technologies are being integrated into law enforcement by DHS.

http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2015/06/transportation-departments-want.html