Is there something unusual about this police observation device?
April 3, 2013 3:05 PM Subscribe
I’m familiar with Chicago’s blue-light police cameras, but recently one was installed where Hubbard Street meets Lower Michigan that is unlike any I have seen. Here it is in situ, and here is a close up.
Does this unit do anything besides watch? I ask because the housing is vented, as if something inside creates heat. And the lights on either side of the camera intrigue me. What are they for? (In the photo, it looks like they’re illuminated, but they’re not; the LEDs seem to be picking up a reflection of the lights nearby. From what I can tell, if they WERE illuminated, they’d be red, or so it appears to me.)
For what it’s worth, as I’ve been noodling around and thinking about this, I did get one answer from the Chicago Police website: Who exactly is using the camera system and for what?
POD video transmission is available through selected PDT’s and a Department web application that allows live broadcast on any computer. Through this web based application, officers can control POD viewing capabilities by zooming in or out, or rotating the camera, to increase and direct viewing of a targeted area.
POD video is monitored by officers in District stations, by PDT’s of selected school unit officers patrolling POD areas by vehicle, officers at the Crime Prevention and Information Center and personnel at the City’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications Center (OEMC). The camera locations are integrated with 911’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. When calls for service in the area of a POD are received, the call description and nearest POD location are displayed to the crime detection specialists enabling them to immediately dispatch units to areas where a crime has been detected. OEMC personnel also view targeted areas as requested by police. POD cameras are also monitored by gang/tactical officers, and are used in coordination with other violence reduction missions. Officers can watch the POD video, make arrests and can inventory the video footage for later use in prosecution of the offenders.
For what it’s worth, as I’ve been noodling around and thinking about this, I did get one answer from the Chicago Police website: Who exactly is using the camera system and for what?
POD video transmission is available through selected PDT’s and a Department web application that allows live broadcast on any computer. Through this web based application, officers can control POD viewing capabilities by zooming in or out, or rotating the camera, to increase and direct viewing of a targeted area.
POD video is monitored by officers in District stations, by PDT’s of selected school unit officers patrolling POD areas by vehicle, officers at the Crime Prevention and Information Center and personnel at the City’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications Center (OEMC). The camera locations are integrated with 911’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. When calls for service in the area of a POD are received, the call description and nearest POD location are displayed to the crime detection specialists enabling them to immediately dispatch units to areas where a crime has been detected. OEMC personnel also view targeted areas as requested by police. POD cameras are also monitored by gang/tactical officers, and are used in coordination with other violence reduction missions. Officers can watch the POD video, make arrests and can inventory the video footage for later use in prosecution of the offenders.
What makes you think these are run by the police rather than the property owner? Lots of property owners have surveillance cameras. The LEDs appear to be infrared, and on. It's just that your camera picks up the IR light and your eyes don't.
posted by primethyme at 3:10 PM on April 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by primethyme at 3:10 PM on April 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The lights are infrared, so your camera records them as being on even though you can't see them, because your camera's sensor records infrared wavelengths. The infrared is used to illuminate the area because the camera in that housing is ALSO sensitive to infrared and infrared light is invisible to humans and therefore less-visually-impactful to the surroundings.
The housing is vented either because the power supply for the camera generates heat or because the motors used to move the camera generate heat.
posted by casconed at 3:10 PM on April 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
The housing is vented either because the power supply for the camera generates heat or because the motors used to move the camera generate heat.
posted by casconed at 3:10 PM on April 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Yeah, that is almost certainly IR lights. So they can see you but you can't see them.
spooky.
posted by aubilenon at 3:10 PM on April 3, 2013
spooky.
posted by aubilenon at 3:10 PM on April 3, 2013
Best answer: 2nd infrared LEDs, which is why they get picked up on the photo.
posted by pompomtom at 3:11 PM on April 3, 2013
posted by pompomtom at 3:11 PM on April 3, 2013
What makes you think these are run by the police rather than the property owner?
It looks like it's on the underside of the El tracks. It could be a CTA camera, I suppose, but it's not affixed to the outside of a business or something.
posted by hoyland at 3:34 PM on April 3, 2013
It looks like it's on the underside of the El tracks. It could be a CTA camera, I suppose, but it's not affixed to the outside of a business or something.
posted by hoyland at 3:34 PM on April 3, 2013
Response by poster: > What makes you think these are run by the police rather than the property owner?
> It looks like it's on the underside of the El tracks.
The camera is mounted over a public thoroughfare: Lower Michigan Avenue, where it intersects with Hubbard. It’s not private property, and it’s nowhere near the El.
Thanks for the replies. It makes sense that a cop cam mounted in this light-starved area would benefit from an infra-red assist.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 4:48 PM on April 3, 2013
> It looks like it's on the underside of the El tracks.
The camera is mounted over a public thoroughfare: Lower Michigan Avenue, where it intersects with Hubbard. It’s not private property, and it’s nowhere near the El.
Thanks for the replies. It makes sense that a cop cam mounted in this light-starved area would benefit from an infra-red assist.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 4:48 PM on April 3, 2013
Best answer: They're not perfectly monochrome LEDs, they give off 99% IR which you can't see with the naked eye, and 1% visible red light that you can see - they glow dull red when they're on.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:20 PM on April 3, 2013
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:20 PM on April 3, 2013
LOL, because police seem to have more cameras in Chicago than private business! I think the vents might serve a function for the extreme weather changes Chicago sees too - having moisture build up inside and then freeze, could be very bad for electronics.
posted by agregoli at 6:15 AM on April 4, 2013
posted by agregoli at 6:15 AM on April 4, 2013
It looks like it's on the underside of the El tracks.
For those who don't know Lower Michigan Ave. runs underneath Michigan Ave. So that camera is mounted on the undercarriage of the overlying road. So the LEDs are because the area is effectively underground and always dark and gloomy.
posted by srboisvert at 11:48 AM on April 4, 2013
For those who don't know Lower Michigan Ave. runs underneath Michigan Ave. So that camera is mounted on the undercarriage of the overlying road. So the LEDs are because the area is effectively underground and always dark and gloomy.
posted by srboisvert at 11:48 AM on April 4, 2013
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posted by cosmicbandito at 3:09 PM on April 3, 2013 [3 favorites]