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Back to To the Point

To the Point

Police, Planes, Videotapes and the Constitution

Law enforcement agencies around the country are experimenting with technologies developed for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These high-tech video recording can track whatever moves in an American city for hours at a time.

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By Warren Olney • May 10, 2014 • 1 min read

Law enforcement agencies around the country are experimenting with technologies developed for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These high-tech video recording can track whatever moves in an American city for hours at a time. One of the, called "wide-area surveillance" is like Google Earth with a rewind button: a kind of time machine, allowing police to review a crime and also track what happened before and after. It and other new technologies, including facial recognition, might even lead to stopping crimes in progress. But they're way ahead of the law. Will they increase public safety at the price of eliminating privacy in public places?

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

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    Andrea Brody

    Senior Producer, KCRW's Life Examined and To the Point podcast

  • KCRW placeholder

    Mike Kessler

    freelance journalist

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    Kareem Maddox

    Three-on-three basketball player in the final stages of qualifying for Olympics; former KCRW intern

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    G.W. Schulz

    Center for Investigative Reporting

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    Richard Biehl

    Dayton Police Department

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    Jennifer Lynch

    Electronic Frontier Foundation

    NewsNationalPolitics
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