Our Surveillance Cameras Are Spiffier Than Your Surveillance Cameras

Last week, the local newspaper, the Pioneer Press, ran an article about the surveillance cameras being installed throughout downtown Saint Paul for the RNC next month. Being downtown earlier this morning, I noticed a couple of these devices - it’s hard not to, as you’ll see in a moment - and snapped a couple of pictures, so that you, dear reader, may be as puzzled as I am by them.

The cameras are large, white, and mounted fairly high on streetlight poles. The first thing I noticed is that they appear to be reliant upon the streetlight itself for electrical power, which seems like a bit of a weak point in the whole design, if you ask me. (People fairly often pop the access-panel off streetlights, and steal the wire inside. As near as I can tell, a ruffian can disable one of these security cameras simply by prying the lid off with a screwdriver, then undoing a wire nut inside…)

The second thing I noticed is that - according to the newspaper - the cameras are networked (obviously), allowing both remote-control of the movable cameras, and remote access to their imagery. It doesn’t appear that the city ran ethernet cable to the streetlights (shucks!); rather, it looks like they’re using some kind of wireless system with large, flat antennas.

Here’s what seems to be the “basic” installation, in all its glory; you can clearly see the two antennas, as well as where the power connection and outlet are. This installation only has one camera, but many of the ones around downtown have two - one movable, and one fixed. The fixed cameras are mounted onto the boxes in various ways, suggesting that - if the hardware inside the boxes supports it - you could physically put three, maybe even four, cameras on the outside.

Here’s one of the multiple-camera setups.

These cameras are all installed by the city, for the RNC - though there’s talk of keeping them after September, and re-positioning them for permanent service at new locations throughout the city. The city, however, aren’t the only ones getting in on the surveillance act - check out these security cameras on a business downtown:

Pretty overkill, huh? Two-camera coverage of any spot within a 270-degree arc. This, remember, is a business, not even a government building - and they’ve got the same thing going on every corner. (So, I guess, if you were halfway down the side of the building, you could be on as many as four cameras as once. Yeah, that’s not excessive, or anything, guys…)

Anyway, if anyone has anything they’d like to share about Saint Paul’s big, insecurely-wired, wireless-ly networked cameras, leave a comment, or leave me a note. I await with baited breath your insights, your analysis, and/or your witticisms…

Bookmark to: