A $212 million USD contract will see the defense contractor conduct a massive upgrade of the electronic security operations in place.
Thousands of people utilize the Metro Transportation Authority’s transit systems every day. With the ongoing threat of terrorism of great concern to New Yorkers, the MTA has begun working toward a much-needed update to its security.
Lockheed Martin has begun work under a three-year contract that will have its teams working on upgrading command and control systems, integrating a variety of around 1,000 cameras and 3,000 motion sensors into the infrastructure. The work will see cell phone service enabled at 277 subway stations as well, according to a New York Times article.
The camera deployment bears similarity to that done in London, where far more cameras in the city proper record the actions of millions of people. Information gathered from the transit cameras after bombings in London helped police investigate and identify suspects in the attacks.
These cameras will aid in the identification and coordination of security responses to potential threats. A suite of “intelligent video” software can assist a command center in noticing when someone leaves behind a briefcase on a subway platform, the Times notes, and a bomb-sniffing dog and handler can be dispatched to the scene.
While no solution could possibly prevent all possible threats, short of burying the subways under 20 feet of concrete, the steps taken may at least force a potential attacker into making enough of a misstep that they may be caught before doing any real damage.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
