Navy to control advanced network of spy cameras along 3.5 miles of San Diego coastline
Posted by: Admin on Thursday, June 05, 2003 - 02:43 AM GMT
   
Privacy According to a Sep. 4, 2002 press release from the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, a research group funded by the state of California and closely associated with the University of California:
A grant from the Office of Naval Research’s Independent Applied Research program will fund the deployment of DIVAs--networks of inter-linked, omni-directional (360°) cameras--along a 3.5-mile stretch of San Diego coastline. The system will be programmed for constant surveillance of the coastline and offshore area, with human operators only entering the equation when the computer detects suspicious activity on land or water and alerts the appropriate authority.
The photo below is from CVRR, the research group receiving the grant.

The photo below from channelislandharbor.org is of Silver Strand Beach, which is the small peninsula that forms San Diego Bay that is home to the U.S. West Coast's primary naval base. It's a good guess that the "3.5 miles of San Diego coastline" would include this beach, though I don't know for sure. (See sandiego.org map.)

CVRR had been working on the networked intelligent cameras for traffic control purposes, but changed direction in the advent of Homeland Security grants. A June 4, 2003 Wired story covered this, but neglected to mention the deployment to the San Diego coastline.