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Baltimore Mayor Backs More Surveillance
by Chloe Albanesius
Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley on Tuesday became the latest U.S. official to suggest increased use of public surveillance cameras in the wake of London terrorist bombings.
"If each of our metropolitan areas had those watch centers like we've seen in London to monitor hundreds of cameras protecting our critical infrastructure like mass transit, those same cameras could be used as a tremendous force multiplier to improve public safety," O'Malley, a Democrat and 2006 gubernatorial candidate, said at a National Press Club luncheon.
Officials in London were able to use a sophisticated network of cameras throughout the city to quickly identify the people suspected of perpetrating separate transit bombings July 7 and July 21. U.S. officials, like Washington Mayor Anthony Williams, subsequently have called for similar systems in U.S. cities.
"With the backbone of a [closed-circuit television] system in place, cities could branch out their networks to free poor neighborhoods of the death grip" of drug use, O'Malley said. "With software upgrades for license-plate recognition, cameras could help apprehend persons wanted for national security reasons while at the same time recovering countless stolen vehicles."
Baltimore has spent $2 million to install a closed-circuit system, and officials are "working quickly to expand it," O'Malley said.
Capturing images on cameras, however, is of no use unless that information can be effectively disseminated, he added. "Unified intelligence units to combat money laundering, the illegal forging of identification documents and terrorism ... would lead to the creation of known offender databases to more effectively target the most violent and recidivist predators in our neighborhoods."
He noted efforts in Israel, a region he recently visited, as an effective model. "It's better to regularly share information and be safe than to share too little information and be sorry."
The mayor also pushed for increased port security through technology like retinal scans. He said such equipment would enable the "brightest minds of the world [to] come to the United States without fear of unreasonable detention ... unwarranted restrictions [or] fear of having their education cut short by xenophobic policies."
O'Malley criticized the Bush administration for spending hundreds of millions of dollars each week in Iraq when it would cost about $600 million to equip all the world's marine container terminals with cargo-scanning equipment. Baltimore currently scans about 10 percent of incoming cargo, he said, "but we're one of only two ports to have received the scanners that have allowed us to do that."
O'Malley also criticized current funding mechanisms. "Mayors and county executives are not asking for our fire and police departments to be totally funded," he said. "They are simply asking for help in covering the additional costs brought about by this foreign threat to America's national security."
A "weak defense view ... now controls Congress and our White House," he added. Federal lawmakers are taking a reactionary approach to funding, as evidenced by the fact that airline security has been bolstered while train and subway security has not. "We're investing in airline security because it's been attacked," he said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff "declared quite arbitrarily" during congressional hearings that rail security is not a priority, O'Malley said. "The incongruity was jarring."
Candidate Notes Views On Tech, Science Education
Jerry Kilgore, Virginia's Republican gubernatorial candidate, on Wednesday unveiled an education plan that includes increased emphasis on science, math and technology efforts.
To increase the number of engineering graduates, the former attorney general proposed giving 100 scholarships each year to Virginia students pursuing that area of study at state universities. While India graduates 150,000 engineers each year and China graduates 250,000, the United States graduates 50,000 -- numbers that "are not enough," he said during a teleconference.
Kilgore also endorsed the idea of science, math and technology cooperatives, which would allow apprenticeships of sorts in certain areas of study. "Students receive ... valuable work experience and hands-on education in their field," he said.
To foster the initiative, Kilgore pledged to work with the State Council on Higher Education for Virginia and state universities to develop additional coop opportunities, "specifically focusing on the areas of mathematics, science and technology."
Distance learning also can improve educational opportunities, he said. "We can do more to ensure the commonwealth has a comprehensive and seamless distance-learning program for our students."
Kilgore pledged to bring degree opportunities to southeastern Virginia, an area currently not served by a four-year university, "in fields that we know we can attract business."
Kilgore's Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, also has pushed transportation and technology investments as ways to invigorate southeastern Virginia but has stressed buoying the businesses of existing employers rather than focusing solely on new investment.
Verizon Settles With Telephone Competitor
Verizon Communications and Bright House Networks (BHN) reached a deal with the state of Florida over high-speed Internet service offered via digital subscriber lines (DSL).
The agreement will allow customers to drop Verizon's telephone service in favor of a competing service but still keep Verizon broadband service, an offer known as "naked DSL," Attorney General Charlie Crist announced Monday.
BHN last year complained to the state's Public Service Commission that Verizon would not let customers transfer their phone service to BHN without losing their DSL Internet service. Crist's office intervened as a party in the PSC case in February.
Crist, a Republican and 2006 gubernatorial candidate, said Verizon's policy impeded competition and harmed consumers by limiting their options. "Competition should mean more choices and lower prices," he said in a statement, "and this agreement will benefit Florida consumers through the free-market system."
Under the deal, Verizon immediately will let customers transfer phone service to BHN while retaining Verizon DSL service.
Washington Prosecutor, Brokerage Officials Meet
After publicly chastising executives at the data brokerage CardSystems Solutions for not responding to state officials' inquiries about data security, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna on Tuesday met with company officials to discuss the recent breach of data kept by the firm.
The officials, including CEO John Perry, "were cooperative and forthcoming in discussing the events surrounding the recent security breach at the company," McKenna said in a statement. The state was looking for more specific information on the breach, and "the company has agreed to provide further details by next week."
Once that information is provided, McKenna and attorneys general from other states will determine "what course of action is in the best interest of consumers," he said.
Meanwhile, McKenna this week hired attorneys Katherine Tassi and Shannon Smith at the Consumer Protection Division in Seattle. They will address high-tech fraud and identity theft. Both have worked in McKenna's office in other capacities for several years.
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