Well, it looks like a BRAVE NEW WORLD has begun in the Sunshine State. Do you think that it has something to do with having a "Big Brother" in the Whitehouse?

This is terrifying and what is even more striking, is the response of Mister & Mrs. Middle America! What exactly was the phrase? You know the one that someone said in reference to what took place in Germany when they began to take those of Jewish desent to the death camps?

"I said nothing when they came for my neighbor, because I really didn't know him or when they came for the family down the street, because I thought perhaps they had done something to deserve what was happening to them, so when they came for me, there was no one left to speak on my behalf."

I realize that I have in all liklihood misquoted the phrase, so I do apologize for that, but this is where we are heading. If we as a people continue to be so self involved that we allow such infractions to our freedom to take place under the guise of law and order we will surely be lost.

************************************************************

Tampa Police Cams Begin
To Surveille Public At Large
By Amy Herdy
© St. Petersburg Times
www.sptimes.com

7-2-1

TAMPA - Strolling along Centro Ybor, the young woman stopped to browse at
a
shop window. Unbeknownst to her, she was presenting her back to a camera
monitoring her progress.

"Turn around," coached the man watching her on a video monitor tucked
within
a building several yards away, even though she could not hear him.

The man, David Watkins of Advanced Biometric Imaging, was trying to
compare
the woman's face with thousands of images stored in a database of wanted
criminals and sex offenders.

The software he was installing, called Face-It, is linked to 36 cameras
throughout the Centro Ybor entertainment complex and along E Seventh
Avenue.
It's the first system of its kind in the state, and Friday the Tampa
Police
Department began using the software for the first time.

"If there's a hit -- boom, we'll send an officer to confirm or deny who it
is," said Tampa police Detective Bill Todd, who helped implement the
system
after being approached by its owner, Visionics Corp. of New Jersey.

The software costs $30,000, but is on loan for a year while the department
decides whether to purchase it, said Maj. Rick Duran, who considers it a
valuable tool.

"What's the best way to say this place is safe?" Duran said. "This is a
way
of letting local hooligans know they will be identified."

The system, he said, is similar to the one used during the Super Bowl,
where
surveillance cameras were aimed at people entering the turnstiles, a
practice that led some to dub the game, "Snooper Bowl."

Of the 19 "hits" obtained at the Super Bowl, however, none led to arrests,
Duran said.

"We could never get through the crowd," he said, a problem he does not
anticipate in Ybor City.

"We don't have the massive crowds here like at the Super Bowl," although
attendance can reach 70,000 on weekends, he said.

Duran said a dozen officers have been trained for the new system, which
will
use only one or two officers at a time for the surveillance.

Here's how it works: The software can instantly capture the images of up
to
four people (it is programmed for four, but capable of capturing eight at
a
time) and compares those images to a computer database based on 80 points
of
the person's face, in an area encompassing their eyes and nose.

The database consists of those wanted on active warrants from the
Hillsborough Sheriff's Office and a list of sexual offenders from the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Todd said. A larger pool can be
added
later if desired.

If there is a resemblance, the computer will rate it from 1 to 10, giving
out an audible "whoop whoop!" alarm for 8.5 and above.

The officer will then contact others on the street by radio, Todd said,
who
will stop the person and determine their identity. If they are wanted,
they
will be arrested. If they are not, the situation will be explained to them
and they are free to go.

The incident is also recorded in a log for future reference.

Since so many teenagers frequent Ybor City, Todd said, it is an area that
could be targeted by sexual offenders, who have restrictions in their
probation that typically prohibit them from contact with minors or with
alcohol, he said.

In the future, the police department hopes to add to the database,
including
gang members and missing children, Todd said.

Wanda Souders, shopping in Centro Ybor Friday afternoon, embraced the
idea.

"That's awesome," said Souders, 35, a caterer. "If you don't have anything
to worry about, it won't bother you. As far as any invasion of rights --
if
you're breaking the law, your rights are kind of dissolved."

The situation disturbed Ryan Rovelto, 23, who works at the Creatures of
Delight shop on 15th Street in Ybor, and lives a few blocks away.

"It's kind of like a police state," Rovelto said. "Whether I have a
warrant
or not, it makes me uncomfortable they can pick me out of a crowd" and run
his image, he said.

In time, Rovelto said, "Who knows what they'll use it for?"