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Subscribe to RSSHelicopters used by the Air Support Unit of London's Metropolitan Police will be keeping a close watch on potential security threats during this summer's Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the Olympic Games.
LONDON -- Helicopter-mounted cameras capable of identifying the color of a suspect's shoelaces on the ground from almost a mile away have been unveiled as a key weapon for security officials preparing of this summer's London Olympics.
The U.K. capital's Metropolitan Police plan to use the airborne cameras to monitor large areas that would otherwise need to be secured by dozens of officers on the ground. They will also be utilized during Diamond Jubilee celebrations -- which recognize Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne.
The devices feature powerful zoom functions which can even allow officers flying in helicopters to see the color of a suspect's eyes on the ground.
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The aircraft will be used to monitor open public areas such as the River Thames, where huge crowds are expected to congregate to watch a royal flotilla as part of the Jubilee events. Images will then be fed back to police command centers on the ground.
Metropolitan Police Constable Ian Miller told NBC News: "We'll be able to deal with most threats. Primarily, it's going to be public safety -- the river itself is a hazard and there's going to be a lot of crowds.
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"From a good distance, you can have good clothing description and we're talking shoelace description… we're talking a kilometer (1,094 yards) away at least."
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More than 300,000 extra visitors are expected in London over the weekend of June 2-5, when most of the Diamond Jubilee events will take place.
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"We provide an aspect of the security plan that's not easily achieved on the ground so we can see rooftops, we can see inaccessible places and we can do so very, very quickly and efficiently from the helicopter," police Sergeant Richard Brandon added. "If we were to try and search all of those areas with conventional search teams, it would take weeks -- if not months -- to fully clear those sites.
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"We're looking for people on rooftops, we're looking for people who are in places they shouldn't be, perhaps."
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Wow. So they can see the color of your shoelaces. What's the story. They do that here in the US every day.
This spying on everyone is becoming a sad state of affairs. Those who are the least trustworthy seem hellbent on watching every move the rest of us make. The only logical next step for this paranoia is chipping everyone and with any luck I'll be dead before that happens.
reads like a Grimm's Fairy Tale doesn't it?
Since the games are in London, all the track and field events should be set to Benny Hill music.
Attention, Govts! People are tired of being surveilled, x-rayed, background checked 24/7. We are not terrorists despite what Banks & Corporations might tell you. If all this security is necessary for a field and track event, I suggest that it be held on a secure & permanent military installation so that people can be people once again.
I for one don't believe govts are doing this to "protect us." I believe they are doing this to protect "financial transactions and business interests" and in doing so have made us the enemy. This is why Bush urged people to shop after 9/11.
Keeping a close watch on security threats? Yeah!!! Right!!!
They will be zooming in on cleavages and a$$es!!!!
It can determine the color of the suspect's eyes? Uhhhh.... Dark brown! Wow, that's really going to be helpful.
thats some sweet technology and i want that job! but... with this type of technology great responsibility and even greater oversight is needed.
Did it not occur to them that they cannot possibly see the true eyecolour- colored contacdt lenses-L'Oreal hairrinse;shaved beards,Western clothes,make-up (spray-on light touch). What about stiletto heels? Or an oldfashioned umbrella? There will be attempts for sure- some terrorists even blending in the various national sports teams-spectators,tourists,British residents. Check on who is flying the airplanes coming in from their original destination and have air marshals onboard. Hoping everything goes smoothly and safely at the London Olympics.
johngis
I emailed this comment to surveillance agents, they wouldn't stop laughing
The article states that they can tell the color (colour) of a person's eyes on the ground! What if your eyes WEREN'T on the ground!!! What if your eyes were in your head!!! Ah ha, bet they hadn't thought of that!
They better get that technology going fast because we're going to have to rely on it while our Sectret Service is off chasing hookers!
Only seems to occur when assigned to Obama so easy to predict when this stuff might happen.
I don't care if they watch me, as long as they don't mind getting sued the first time they abuse any of the data they collect on me. I need a million or so, and litigation seems to be the order of the day.
12,000 police officers, 13000, military personnel, 20,000 security guards, 1000 US security personnel, 500 MI5 personnel, drones, warships, snipers, rocket launchers, missels, helicopters, and over 100,000 cameras. I hope you frightened little girls feel safe. Enjoy the games!
The man who is constantly looking over his shoulder in fear of someone stabbing him in the back does so because he himself has spent his entire life stabbing others in the back. We fear others because we have made others fear us, we are worried about someone taking what we have because everything we have we have taken from someone else.
BodyDouble, the unfortunate reality is that with all that hardware and personnel, it will still be possible for a terrorist to tarnish the games if the terrorist is willing to take the risk of capture or death. Of course it would have to be a rather smart terrorist which seems to be an oxymoron so far.
If the terrorists are so stupid then why do we need so much security? We must be dumber than the "terrorists" if they were able to kill 3000 people on sept 11th 2001 and ultimately bring about a 1984 scenario in the entire western world. The "terrorists" won and you have no clue why they did what they did or even who they really are.
A woman was filming her dog in her yard just before the planes hit the towers, she happened to film four men standing on top of a van watching the towers with binoculars AS THE FIRST PLANE HIT. She even got their liscense plate number and turned them in. Guess what, none of them were arab, but the came from the same part of the world. When the first plane hit they began jumping up and down and high-fiving eachother and yet YOU never even heard about them, did you? Everything you have been told your whole entire life has been a lie. You have been manipulated by someone you never even heard of.
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind."
— Edward L. Bernays (Propaganda)
They'll be looking for an Arab but an Arab can dye his hair, lighten his skin, wear colored contacts, so they'll have to look for an Irish man. Millions of people will be coming and going during these events. The only way to make them safe is to have check points everywhere. And that will make it a miserable place to go. Plus as the check points get backed up they themselves become viable targets. The bomber just walks through the check point and the bomb detector goes off two seconds before the bomb goes off and hundreds of people at the clogged check point die.
Was it an Arab who bombed our Olympics in Atlanta? I thought Eric Rudolph was a white American conservative christian?
This is where truth turns to fairy tale; it was 3 people celebrating in a moving van. Nationalities were never released so it would be impossible to say they we not arab; your assumption is without merit. All 3 were deported back to the Middle East where they were from, (ME- sounds to me they might have been arabic anyway.
Bodydouble, you're excessive. we took but we gave too. America gives technology, medical, financial aid, security and all sorts of other things as well. America is imperfect for sure, but don't think a world without America as we know it would be turning this earth into a paradise. When it comes to freedom and democracy there is still nothing better than this country. Just travel and you'll see for yourself. for example when you go to say Norway or Finland which are such Heavens of social this and that, remember that they stayed free from a USSR takeover because American military personnel where holding the USSR at bay. I'd go as far as venturing to say that America's big stick is still what keeps things going the way they are. America can help but can't "make" people in other countries behave. America can't provide vaccine for Africa and tell people to have 2-3 kids, they have 10 kids, then they starve or ethnic cleanse themselves etc...
Why does everyone take such an interest in the olympics anyway? It ceased being a real competetion once they let the professionals in. And for what they charge to see an event it makes me think it's no more than a marketing scheme. Let them spy all they want...... seems a waste.
The van was not moving, it was parked and they were standing on top of it watching the plane fly into the building with binoculars, and they were Jewish not Arab. Her video plainly shows them there and watching, BEFORE THE PLANE HIT.
save the environment, some people, like my ancestors, didnt want your technology and would have prefered you didn't take their land in exchange for ipods.
....you took the blue pill didn't you BodyDouble.......
"They will also be utilized during Diamond Jubilee celebrations -- which recognize Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne."
WOW how impressive! Genius!
WAIT A MINUTE!
... there is some hype (BS) somewhere... of course they will recognize the Queen Elizabeth II. She is the only one allowed to sit on the throne !!
The more one hears about hype technologies, the less secure one feels.
Here is another good one I titled: The $Billion$ Dollar-Man get screwed by the $26 Dollar-Man. Military Predator video intercepted by Iraqis insurgents (gcn. com/articles/2009/12/17/insurgents-hack-predator-video.aspx)
When Queenie "sits on the throne", does she have any special kind of toilet paper to use?
She probably has a royal ass wiper. Loved the S.N.L. skits from last season, or has it been two?
If this is what it takes to secure the international games of peace and cooperation, then scrap the games. If this is also what it takes to protect a single woman, scrap the monarchy. Both institutions have seemingly outlived their usefulness.
The color of a Terrorists eyes are Blue - One blew this way, One blew that way
Yeah, eye color really narrows it down, especially when colored contacts are available.
I found my Doppelganger.
The color of their eyes are brown in the Arabs world!
Not all terrorists are Arab, in the US we have right wing terrorists that don't all have brown eyes , the guy that bombed Cenntinial Olympic Park, eric Rudolf had blue eyes. Timothy mcveigh had blue eyes, Jared Loughner had hazel eyes. Right wing terrorists in the US have all different colored eyes.
What color eyes does the head terrorist Dick Cheney have? Talk about a terrorist. That dude's so evil I'm surprised his new heart didn't reject him.
There's still the Real IRA though that is fading fast.
Except for the blue one.
The queen should stay in the castle to be safe.
Sigh of resignation...... what is this world coming to when a person is more terrified of those fighting terrorism than the terrorists?
I detest the thought of this kind of intrusion from the sky.
It is just over the top and unacceptable.
If events are causing this kind of concern, then cancel them.
This is ridiculous.
This kind of behavior against humanity is similar to the behavior of those that invented the atomic bomb. Those men ended up regretting their actions later in life.
Technology needs to be measured against human rights.
This behavior is an affront to human rights.
We are not insects in a jar.
I am boycotting the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee in protest.
Those events do not exist as far as I am concerned.
I am not watching or reading anything else about them.
This is so ridiculous, it is almost unbelievable.
That's a great idea, let's cancel the Olympics.
Anyone who has lived through London in the eighties during the IRA bombings should welcome what comfortable Americans consider an invasion of their privacy. Please no Ben Franklin or Thomas Jefferson quotes here. My wife and I left a restaurant in Piccadilly less than ten minutes before it exploded due to a bomb. Any means that would have caught that bomb maker before placing his bomb and killing innocent people would have suited me fine. One attack on American shores left many New Yorkers screaming for better security so could you imagine what ten or twenty attacks in one city would do. I guarantee out would come the cameras and un-manned drones in a second. We already have the helicopters anyway.
Then go live in a jar where you can be observed going to the bathroom and picking your nose.
Maybe you will then be safe.
Your jar handlers will make it so, after you have lost every human right and every bit of privacy.
IfYou, thank your local Muslims.
IfITell, not all the top scientists who worked on the a-bomb regretted it later in life. Many regretted it while they were building it as a "necessity". Many had no regrets whatsoever. That can of worms was going to be opened by somebody no matter what they did or did not do, so they worked to make sure that we had it before anyone else.
No, I would rather thank the prejudiced, terrified, ignorant masses.
Boycott, not cancel.
We already had concentration camps too.
who really would miss nyc, they steal our money and when they are going down the tubes D.C. gives them BAILOUT MONEY, as in the past!
Terrorists now know to get colored contact lenses for the Olympics. Just do not allow muslims inside London and you'll have the situation covered.
Just put everyone in jail and install cameras and you'll have the situation covered.
Hey 'IfITell...' I think your real name is
IfITellUImParanoidImAlreadyBeingWatched.
Or American conservative christians like Eric Rudolph who bombed our olymipics in Atlanta.
cgtrav, I think your real name is IAmSoTerrifiedIWantToLiveInJailToBeSafe
cgtrav, or maybe you can use, IGetPaidToTakeAwayAmericanFreedom
cgtrav, or maybe you can use, IAmACowardAndINeedTheGovernmentToTakeCareOfMe
Doesn't that pretty much empty out London?
It's funny how people call you paranoid if you complain about all this surveillance equipment and the big brother state, when it is the government who is so paranoid that they insist upon knowing everything everyone is doing, while keeping secret even the smallest thing that they are.
Face it people, in this day and age, surveillance, both covert and overt, is a fact of life, periods. With the drones and helicopters around just obey the law at all times, even in your back yard (which was never private in the first place). If you do not want anyone knowing what you are doing, do not do it on the web or with the drapes/curtains/blinds open or in public (which has always included your back yard). How simple is that?
A simple solution for the simple minded.
WELL STATED,IF I Tell U Who I Am!
It's not really spying if they tell you they are doing it. I would call it monitoring.
WOW, that is so accurate, almost as accurate as the patriot missiles. Not as advertised by the army and FOX, but from finds on the battle fields. Trust no-one.
To the British authorities, this translates to mean the citizens.
.
The part they are leaving out is the scanner tech that will let them look inside places. Including homes and bedrooms. Whatever privacy you thought you had, is gone. We will now be living under a microscope.. The same crap will be in drones flying overhead here in N.America.
Ironic. Spying on those who attend the Queen Elizabeth II's "Diamond Jubilee celebration." Celebrating 60 years on the royal throne. Remember this is the same group of jokers who view the citizens as merely "subjects" and prove their disdain for them by supporting eugenics projects and other nafarious black ops. How do their foolish"subjects" respond to all this? By groveling on their knees and cheering on the games!! Reminds one of ancient Rome right before the fall. The Romans had their enemies too but at least their citizens weren't treated as slaves living under a high tech survelliance grid. It seems George Orwell was indeed clairvoyant. Is it time for the internment and resettlement operations yet? Now google manual FM 3-39.40
I am going to boycott this ridiculous affair.
I can not even stand the thought of watching people that are being monitored from the sky by helicopters and drones in order to keep them safe.
I just can not stomach that reality.
It sounds so unsafe.
Why would anyone go to such an event?
Why would they take their precious children?
All this is just an attempt to locate bad dental work. The eye color thing is just a ruse.
I also plan to boycott these events. I will not support this.
Im never going to want security. I never did want safety. I have not gone near an airport since the TSA came into being, and never will as long as they exist. I will never willingly submit to being groped. Wherever they bring in this crap, you wont find me.
Power of the People
The people will always stay ahead of technology.
The birth rate just can not be denied.
The Olympics were created as a time for our Officals to relax as done during WW2.
Donations by the public should occur in vast quantities sometime down the road during the Olympics.
Make your donations to the U.N. and support the world peace inititive of the United States.
Message to the leaders of the countries of the world:
Why can't we all live in peace?
Is that really too much to ask?
Stop your aggression and make it so.
And if the government won't do any monitoring and a bomb blows that actually kills people, I bet all of you who complained about your freedom or rights being stripped will be the first to complain why the government is not doing something. Good grief!!!
Come on Shelby, you know this is just ridiculous.
Instead of turning the Olympics into a ridiculous invasion of human rights, we should rethink the event originating in Greece.
What has it come to represent?
Are we really OK with that?
The Olympics make a lot of money for business, and as usual the tax payers of the country have to shell out billions for security so they can charge 5 pounds for a beer! It is all about the money!