The New York Civil Liberties Union is suing the Department of Homeland Security to find anything it can about the NYPD's plans to build a massive surveillance system in Lower Manhattan.
The system will allow the NYPD, and possibly the federal government, to create a computerized database on the movement and whereabouts of millions of everyday New Yorkers who travel south of Canal Street.
Modeled after London's so-called Ring of Steel surveillance network, the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative will create a system of thousands of surveillance cameras that will monitor and track vehicles and pedestrians in the financial district. There will be roadblocks, mobile teams of heavily armed officers as well as technology including closed-circuit television cameras, license plate readers and explosive trace detection systems.
NYCLU Sues Homeland Security Over Spying on Citizens »»