Posted on 10/18/2001 8:54:19 PM PDT by TheLurkerX
SWAT Team Takes High Tech Cameras
Residents in one downtown Atlanta community called police after they noticed at least two cameras mounted on street lamps near businesses close to West Peachtree and Baltimore Place.
The residents say the cameras seemed to have the Atlanta skyline as their focus.
Security guard Bernadine Johnson told 11Alive News that a resident pointed the cameras out to her earlier in the day.
"And she said, 'Right up here on these two poles.' And I walked up there with her and said OK and called 911," Johnson said.
The Atlanta police sent a SWAT team to the area to search for explosives before removing the cameras.
However, officers continued to survey the area.
Witnesses say shortly after the police took the cameras down a car with five men in it showed up. Residents say they appeared to be looking for the cameras.
Police took the men into custody for questioning.
No one knows exactly what the purpose of the cameras were. Johnson says the cameras were pointed in varying directions yet all trained on the downtown area.
"They were pointed in that direction south," she said. "I don't know exactly what building but they were pointed in that direction toward downtown."
Residents say that from their perspective the cameras would be able to see an IRS building, the hotel district and the Georgia Dome.
The Dome is just a few minutes away from the school First Lady Laura Bush visited earlier on Thursday.
Atlanta police say no one has been charged with any wrongdoing at this time, but they will continue their investigation.
Yes. THree games beginning tonight.
We need to discourage terrorist behavior- viciously.
Yes...and this FR forum acts as a national 'neighborhood watch' too.
With the red-light-running scenerio placing cameras about, and the populace getting EXTREMELY upset at them, this is as good a story as any.
However, in Indianapolis, at East 10th Street and Mitthoffer, there are 4 cameras pointed at traffic: exactly into the front window of a vehicle sitting stopped at the light.
There have been NO cover stories floated, but my TFHT is that face recog software is being used there. (It's close to a fairly high crime area)
bttt
You're welcome. There are quite a few similar items out there from early on- some have been filed under the key words "camera incidents," "isolated incidents" and "scouts," among other things. Unfortunately there were a lot that didn't get indexed but we try to find and bump them up from time to time.
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