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Indybay Feature

Tampa is watching you at the 2012 RNC

by RNCCTV
Tampa has installed dozens of high-def CCTV cameras in advance of the 2012 RNC. The cameras are fairly easy to spot, but to save you the time we have canvassed the downtown area and mapped out the cameras. If you're using a mobile device we can show you the closest cameras to where you are and even where to look.
800_tampa_surveillance_cameras_rnc2012.jpg
Map of Cameras in downtown Tampa: http://rncctv.com/map-of-cameras/


Camera and network specs

Aware Digital was awarded a multi-million dollar contract to install about 90 high-def cameras around the downtown area and a wireless network to connect the cameras. 63 of the cameras have pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ in CCTV lingo) capabilities which means that they can be remotely aimed and the zoom is an impressive 20x optical. 31 fixed point cameras have been installed, mostly to watch the Tampa Police Department and its parking garage. We have concentrated on mapping the cameras meant to watch you.
According to the city's RFP, the project includes:

55 Axis Q6035 cameras with Firetide IVS-100 enclosures painted to match surroundings and connected to home base with Firetide Hotport 7010 mesh nodes
21 Axis M3114-VE
10 Axis M1114-E
1 Axis 212 PTZ-V

Storage

Videos will be stored for four years on Blue-Ray discs. The cameras starting recording on August 5th 2012 and will record through September 1st at minimum. It's not known if the city will keep watching afterwards.

There is software monitoring all the cameas that can "intelligently" recognize abnormal behavior (see BRSLabs AISight for how this works). Up to 300 moving objects (AKA citizens) can be tracked in a single frame.

§Works as a standalone iOS app
by RNCCTV
app-tn.jpg
Just bookmark and choose to save to home screen
§Highlights closest cameras
by RNCCTV
closest-tn.jpg
Red means the camera can probably see you (unless obstructed).
§The cameras look like this
by RNCCTV
cameras-tn.jpg
Thanks to the wireless network antennas they all stand out
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by Tampa Bay Times
By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, August 18, 2012

TAMPA — A Tampa Web developer has mapped 59 security cameras posted downtown for the Republican National Convention.

Jon Gales, 27, lives downtown and started noticing workers installing the cameras in June. He has since tracked what he believes to be all of the cameras and designed a map that can be viewed at rncctv.com.

When viewed on a smartphone, the map shows visitors which cameras are likely filming them.

The city is paying Miami-based Aware Digital about $2 million for the cameras. The money comes from a $50 million federal convention security grant.

Gales says his actions were not political or protest-based. He said he would have done it for the Democratic National Convention if he lived in Charlotte, N.C.

"These cameras could be here for years afterwards," he said. "It's just something I wanted to do for my neighborhood."

Police said Friday that they are fine with Gales' project.

"The locations are not a secret," said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy.

Authorities hope that if protesters know they're being filmed, it might encourage them to follow the law and act peacefully.

The city owns the cameras. Authorities have not said what they plan to do with them after the convention.
by WMNF News
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
Surveillance cameras in Tampa for Republican convention:WMNF News
Jon Gales from rncctv.com
http://wmnf.org/news
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