Cameras to monitor boat traffic on RI Bay
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PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Cameras could soon be recording boat traffic throughout all of Narragansett Bay.
The city of Providence and defense contractor
The cameras would be used in upper Narragansett Bay to monitor boat traffic and to keep watch on large ships carrying hazardous cargo. A similar system run by the state Department of Environmental Management tracks movement in southern Narragansett Bay and first came online in June 2006.
"We're going to have a pretty unique system in the state of Rhode Island when all is said and done," said Peter Gaynor, director of the Providence Emergency Management Agency. "We're going to be able to watch our port from the Atlantic all the way up our harbor."
A Department of Homeland Security grant is being used to pay for three-quarters of the project. Providence will cover the rest of the $142,867 deal with Raytheon.
One camera used by the Providence Fire Department will be mobile. The other three will be placed at the Squantum Club in East Providence, on Warwick Light, and at ProvPort.
Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, says the use of the cameras could raise security concerns.
"Certainly, some aspects of the technology are troubling, if people are being spied on, if these cameras have that ability," Brown said.
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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/
