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Weighing security's overall cost
By DAVE GUSSOW PALM HARBOR -- In these days of heightened security concerns, even the experts have more questions than answers. If a video surveillance camera incorrectly identifies one person out of 500 as a bad guy, is that an acceptable error rate? If 10 people are stopped because their photos are similar to a terrorist's, is that okay, particularly if the terrorist is arrested? And if the video camera system in Ybor City never results in an arrest, is it effective? Those attending the Security Industry Association's annual meeting at the Westin Innisbrook Resort this week could not give a definitive answer to those questions. The trade group, which represents companies that make everything from home burglar alarms to advanced "biometric" software, is sifting through the demands for protection, and the business opportunities, that were created by Sept. 11. "This is a work in progress," said Tampa Police Detective Bill Todd. He was referring specifically to the Ybor City camera system, which has yet to capture a criminal. Todd was given a prime spot on the program as luncheon speaker Tuesday because the system has drawn international attention. The demand for security has mushroomed since September, said Richard Chauce, executive director of the Security Industry Association. And that has given a boost to new technologies such as biometrics, which identify a person through physical characteristics such as a photo, fingerprints, eye scans or voice. There is less resistance now to the cost of such systems, he said, because of the rush for more security. For example, a few years ago, a guard sitting in a lobby might have sufficed for a company. Now that company might want to add a photo ID system for employees or locks using fingerprints to limit access to its offices. But there's still concern about privacy and community safety. And there's concern about how the new techniques will work to get the job done, and what policies and guidelines will be developed. "A bad security system is just as bad as having no security system," Chauce said. While Ybor and a handful of other places use video surveillance systems, police, politicians and security experts are still hashing out how to use them and how to measure success. Detective Todd was asked just such questions about the Ybor cameras. If they scare people away from the area, is that good? It could be, he replied, because it disrupts the crime pattern. Signs in Ybor tell people about the monitoring, which in itself could be a deterrent to crime. But he acknowledged that it's too soon to know how effective the system is, and even how best to use such systems. "It's not the silver bullet," Todd said. "It is a tool in our toolbox." Former FBI director Louis Freeh, who spoke to the security group Monday night, warned that the United States can't allow its own antiterrorism efforts to go overboard. "We can't fall into the trap where many other countries would like us to join in with them where anything the government in power at that particular time doesn't like is characterized as terrorism," Freeh said. About 100 executives attended the conference, which ended Tuesday. - Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Dave Gussow can be reached at gussow@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4228.
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From the Times Business report Robert Trigaux
From the AP
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