London to install Wi-Fi parking cameras

[rskrobot]

London's city of Westminster plans to crack down on rogue drivers by using a Wi-Fi-based closed-circuit television network.
Westminster City Council is busy installing networked security cameras that can recognize parking permits and the plates of offending vehicles.

The system means parking tickets can be issued without a human witnessing the offense in person.

The parking crackdown is the most significant application to be deployed on the Westminster's Wi-Fi network, which it has built over the past year with BT. "Parking enforcement is the killer application that everyone is looking for," said Vic Baylis, director of services at Westminster City Council.

Baylis said the network could be used in two ways to tackle illegal parking.

The cameras can now recognize parking permits and their validity, the plate of the offending vehicle, and the parking restrictions on the road in question. They can also clock the time vehicles enter timed parking spaces. Images of every parking offense are collated and then viewed by a human operator for verification before parking tickets are dispatched.

If drivers complain that their ticket is unjust, their letter is scanned and viewed next to the original CCTV image by the operator.

The council also employs six people who permanently monitor CCTV images. If an operator spots a parking offense, they are expected to make radio contact with the nearest enforcement officer, who will issue the ticket.

The council has so far deployed 25 wireless CCTV cameras, and it plans to add 10 more each week, up to a total of about 250. Eventually, it intends to be able to view 80 percent of the area, excluding the Royal Parks. It says that target could be reached by mid-2008.

Baylis said the council's complete investment in the network should pay for itself in two to three years.

Other applications that the council is considering include giving staff mobile access to their data, enabling streetlamps so they can communicate when the bulb needs replacing, and connecting parking meters so the staff is informed when they are full or out of order.

source

[zenkidori]

should be fun to tinker with their network, hahaha.

[Blind_Io]

Network cams hacked to broadcast porn in 4...3...2..

[KaJuN]

Hey London, Mr. Orwell called. He said "I told you so."

[blazer]

yea same thing came to mind, 1984. its ridiculous Anarchy!!

[epp_b]

Oh, I can't wait for this to be hacked.

[Cobol74]

OMG Someone, somewhere, is getting paid to think up this stuff. In my experience take a human out of the loop you end up with ridiculous situations.

[Blind_Io]

You know, I was going to make another 1984 reference, but I thought that this many in such a short time was just me.

Guess not.

[TheCleaner]

free rouge parking keeps people morales high! the feeling of parking, or getting something for free, can be whats stopping you ending it all and commiting suicide!!Take it from the people and they will destroy you and themselves. These are like speed cameras.. allowing enforcement authorities to be lazy

[No Boss]

OMG have you guys read this yet?!!?

[otispunkmeyer]

what if all these cameras saturate the wi-fi network, therefore making it useless?

i would hope thats been considered to be honest, but the morons currently running this place i wouldnt put it passed them.

it'll pay for itself in 2-3 years? what if after 1 year... parking violations pretty much stop? then you have 250 cameras watching nothing happen. not very well thought out.

meh just another way to waste tax payers money in an attempt to further fleece the tax payer.

and yes cobol, i cant believe people get paid to think this crap up...we're clearly in the wrong business. we should team up and create a government quango called daftidea inc. what we will do is charge vast sums of money to come up with ill-thought out clap trap idea and then advise the government on how to implement them.

heck thats what half the quangos do now anyway.

or perhaps we could some how get stacks of cash for some how being linked to the olympic games bid.

[rskrobot]

Originally Posted by otispunkmeyer

what if all these cameras saturate the wi-fi network, therefore making it useless?

Do you have a public wi-fi network over London?

[IVIaster]

Originally Posted by rskrobot

Do you have a public wi-fi network over London?

We have a public wifi in many places

Hey, whats up with these references to Orwell parody, these are only cameras.

Anywhoo, guess London could use all these money its using for traffic control much better (as always it is with these things), but I blame the people who dont pay their parking tickets.

[nomix]

Give in with the Orwell arguments, you can't really compare those cameras to the surveillance of 1984. Normal cameras, yes, but not those.

-

What's next? Cameras outside banks that register if there's a robbery, then a constable has a joystick which he controls from a control station with a baton on a stick, so he can beat the robber in the face when he runs out of the bank?

[American TG Man]

Now, the only question is... are they built to be "indestructibe?"