Surveillance
Focus on Indiana’s wolf hybrid laws in the wake of child attack
The recent attack on a five-year-old boy by a wolf dog in Eaton, Indiana has highlighted the need to enforce wolf hybrid laws in the state more stringently. The terrifying encounter, just a few yards from the child’s front door has left him severely marred. The boy, Chase Fox, has bite marks on his arm […]
Neighborhood Watch and the best sign for the job
The concept behind Neighborhood Watch is brilliantly simple: ask the people with the most at stake to actively participate in their own safety. The system works by reducing the opportunities for crime, not by trying to change the complex social-cultural-economic-personal forces motivating any one criminal. Neighborhood Watch, the modern iteration of which launched in 1972, […]
Move over home security systems, there’s an app for that
Whether you’re carving fresh powder on a Colorado ski slope or hanging out with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, you can now remotely control your home security system with – you guessed it, a smartphone. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard someone say, “there’s an app for that,” I’d be lounging on a […]
No glass allowed: Why spaces will ban Google Glass
Google Glass can be characterized as futuristic, innovative, and nerdy. If you haven’t seen it, you must check out the unveiling video featuring of ice skaters, skydivers, and proud parents all using the head-mounted display. Google Glass is basically a smartphone you wear in front of your eyes. It can check email, take pictures, video […]
Profit and terrorism: surveillance camera sales rise after attacks
Surveillance camera footage was the hero in the successful capture of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. It was “a camera outside the Lord & Taylor department store that provided the first glimpse of the men who allegedly bombed the Boston Marathon.” Homeland Security Official Stewart Baker, who watched the events unfold, “expects to see more […]
Want your sign obeyed? Add an image of eyes, studies say
In crime-ridden New York, Jane Jacobs, a journalist and author, described an idea called “eyes on the street” in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities. The book is still widely influential in urban planning circles. The concept later came to be called “natural surveillance,” and is widely applied by city planners […]
TSA considers allowing knives on planes
Ever since 9/11, the shoe bomber, the liquids bomber and the underwear bomber, air travel has been a cumbersome affair. We arrive early, occasionally have our luggage swabbed for traces of ballistic material, stumble through the security line, pulling out laptops and Ziploc baggies of toiletries, as we tug off sneakers all the while tripping […]