Homeland Security Camera Network Continues To Grow

If you have ever wondered about what looks like camera housing located in public places, you might be surprised that some of them are part of the Homeland Security camera system.

Not all of them, and not in every town and city, but more and more cameras that are in existence in many cities are joining forces with the government agency in its fight against domestic terrorism.

There are many cities that have installed cameras to keep close watch on large public gatherings, such as near the White House and around several national memorials to identify problems with crowds. The ability to network these cameras into a much larger, national network is enabling the Homeland Security camera system to continue to grow by adding cameras from communities all around the country.

For those that do not understand how it is possible, consider the internet availability to access your personal computer from anywhere in the world by signing onto a computer and going to a network website.

Start with your home network, if more than one computer is connected to internet access through a hub, you can access anything on one computer from another computer, provided you give all the proper permissions. If you have cameras connected to a network at the office for example, then access the work computer from home, you can call up images connected to the work computer from home. This is the same system the Homeland Security camera system uses to add onto the existing system.

Surveillance System Quickly Growing In Size

With the infrastructure already in place in many larger communities, it is really an easy task for the Homeland Security camera computer to contact the city camera computer and gain access to the images on the computer. Of course, permission has to be granted by the community for the Homeland Security camera system to grab images from the computer. Safeguards are also in place to prevent the homeland computer from having any control over a community's camera system.

Most of the Homeland Security cameras in use are not only static image cameras. Many of them are equipped with remote accessibility to pan, tilt and zoom to effectively be able to track someone or something within range to help fight the threat of global and domestic terrorism.

While there are those that are uncomfortable knowing the government can patch into any community with a camera system and grab images from anywhere, most understand the importance of being constantly vigil for the sake of national security.