Blimps, iris scans, and facial recognition used to fight crime

[Jenna]

A Utah police chief hopes to add a 52-foot-long unmanned blimp to his force that will stream live video and serve as a crime-fighting eye-in-the-sky. Already in his arsenal are 200 surveillance cameras scanning the city 24/7.
"When I hired on in the '70s, we had 25,000 calls for service with 125 officers," said Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner, who says the blimp will cost less than a patrol car. "Today we handle over 100,000 calls for service with 144 officers."

In Pinal County, south of Phoenix, Ariz., Sheriff Paul Babeu expects by September to have 75 deputies outfitted with facial recognition devices that also scan irises and fingerprints and attach to iPhones.
"This is a significant game-changer for law enforcement," Babeu said. "It's absolutely shocking the leapfrog and advance in technology that is available to us."
He said his office already has begun scanning irises of jailed inmates and registered sex offenders, and will have deputies in the field do the same anytime a person is arrested. He said the scans take 15 seconds and are more accurate than fingerprints.
Some opponents of the technology, however, say it goes too far and infringes on citizens' rights to privacy.

More here: FBI, police go high-tech to fight crime

[lewisipso]

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