URT

SURVEILLANCE NETWORK IN CORONA

Created by YEONG RAN KIM OCTOBER 12TH, 2011

(1) Data Collector and Transmitter



The first layer of this project is data collector and data transmitter.  I identify each device on the map, visualizing its presence.  While Sky Watch Tower and Mobile Command Center is apparent to public eyes, surveillance cameras are not always visible to unattended mind because they are small and installed above the range of the sight.

1) Sky Watch Tower



NYPD Sky Watch Towers have been deployed in New York City after 9/11.  The towers have four surveillance cameras, a spotlight, and a place for a cop to watch over from two stories above the sidewalk.  Currently, they are in Harlem, the Upper East Side, Wall Street, Shea Stadium, Jackson Heights, Crown Heights, and Corona.  Sky Watch is originally used by the U.S. military and border control.  In terms of its structure, it came from a panopticon that Jeremy Bentham designed in 1787; the "inspector" sees and controls everything that surrounds him without being seen in the center.  As Foucault (1977) famously discusses in his book Discipline and Punishment: The Birth of the Prison, the panopticon controls over bodies through making subjects learning to curtail their behavior in the circumstances that they cannot verify the existence of surveillance and yet they know it is possibly there at any moment.  And NYPD Sky Watch exactly functions that way even in residential areas.  In addition, as many other surveillance devices are, Sky Watch is manufactured by a military cooperation.  FLIR (http://www.flir.com/us/), a company specialized in thermal imaging technology, supplies Sky Watch Towers.

 
Inside one of the prison buildings at Presidio Modelo @ Friman 2005


NYPD Sky Watch @ Y. Ran Kim

2) Networked Camera




NYPD surveillance camera with antennas (http://nyc.indymedia.org/)

Videos can be watched real-time through NYPD network.  An antenna attached to a camera transmits video through the city wireless network.  

3) Non-networked Camera



Video can be watched after things happened.  Public buildings such as library are legally obligated to install surveillance cameras.  Private property owners are strongly encouraged to install surveillance cameras.  This regulation was enacted after 9/11. (See http://home2.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/counterterrorism/engineeringsecurity_050_guidlines_on_access_control_screening_and_monintoring.shtml for the regulation)


A Surveillance Camera @ Y. Ran Kim

 

4) Mobile Command Center



It is a van that has a surveillance camera on the top of the car and a monitoring station inside the car.


Mobile Command Center @ Y. Ran Kim


5) Patrol Car




@Y. Ran Kim

NYPD patrols neighborhood on regular basis.  Recently, laptop computers are being placed in patrol cars, which allows officers on duty can immediately access to NYPD's database on the street.  Motorola has been in charge with developing this system of communication and it is worthwhile to attend the way in which Craig Siddoway, Director of Industrial Design at Motorola, describes the nature of the technology:

“Our goal is to make the technology invisible. In the monitoring phase, police officers spend much of their time just assessing their environment and looking for patterns that don’t make sense.” (1)

My goal of this project would be, if I might repeat myself once again, making the technology "visible" so that we can aware of  what is really going on around us, which is perfectly opposed to Siddoway's statement.  And ultimately, although I do not have access to those "patterns" that NYPD uses for setting up their system for the "security" reason, examining the way in which NYPD categorizes information would be a critical means for thinking socio-political forces in the surveillance technology.

 

6) Police Officers




@ Y. Ran Kim

NYPD officers have always been and will always be the important actors in the practice of surveillance.

7) NYPD helicopter




@ www.wired.com

NYPD helicopter, the $10 million vehicle designed by Bell Helicopter, has a high quality surveillance on its body.  The camera pictures a face from two miles away in a recognizable quality, a building from three to four miles away, and track a suspect car from twelve miles away.  And the data is transmitted to NYPD network in real-time. (2)  It virtually covers all the areas in New York City.



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(1) "The "Ultimate Patrol Vehicle": Motorola focuses on giving officers enhanced awareness & safety by seamless integration of technology" in LawOfficer, September 2011 Issue.

(2) "NYPD Helicopter Views Faces From Miles Away" in WIRED, June 5, 2008.

 



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