ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Coast Guard, United Statesobserve women; a British study found that 1 in 10 womenwere targeted for voyeurism by the operators of onepublic-surveillance system. Studies of operators of publicsurveillancesystems have also shown instances of selectivelymonitoring dark-skinned persons. Further, powerfulsurveillance tools may offer a tempting aid to repressionof groups such as political protestors. Many aspects ofpublic-space behaviors that are quite legal are neverthelessconfidential or at least personal by nature—courtshipbehaviors, travel patterns, buying habits, lawyer/clientconsultations, reading choices, smoking, and more. Manypersons dislike the idea of such behaviors being recordedby government officials as a matter of course.There is also widespread willingness in some countries,however, to give up a large measure of privacy in thequest for security from terrorism. A survey conducted byBusiness Week in November, 2001 found that 63% of U.S.adults favored increasing use of public-surveillance CCTVand that 86% favored the use of facial-recognition softwareto scan for terrorists in public places (as was donewith taped images of over 100,000 attendees at the 2001Superbowl). CCTV, enhanced by computer processing,will probably play a growing role in both its traditionalsecurity applications and in public life in years to come.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Nieto, Marcus, Kimberly Johnston-Dodds, and CharleneSimmons. Public and Private Applications of Video Surveillanceand Biometric Technologies. Sacramento, CA:California Research Bureau, California Public Library,2002.PERIODICALS:Notton, John. ”The Use of Technology in Policing the Cityof London,“ in proceedings from the InternationalCarnahan Conference on Security Technology, Larry D.Sanson, ed., IEEE, 35–39, 1998.Sage, Kingsley, and Steward Young. ”Computer Visionfor Security Applications,“ in proceedings from theInternational Carnahan Conference on Security Technology,Larry D. Sanson, ed., IEEE, 210–215, 1998.Thief, Geoff. ”Automatic CCTV Surveillance: Towards theVIRTUAL GUARD,“ in proceedings from the InternationalCarnahan Conference on Security Technology,Larry D. Sanson, ed., IEEE, 42–48, 1999.Walters, Peter. ”CCTV Operator Performance and SystemDesign,“ in proceedings from the International CarnahanConference on Security Technology, Larry D. Sanson,ed., IEEE, 32–37, 1993.ELECTRONIC:American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). ”What’s WrongWith Public Video Surveillance?“ (December 19,2002).SEE ALSOBiological and Biomimetic SystemsEncyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and SecurityBio-Optic Synthetic Systems (BOSS)Biosensor Technologies❚ CARYN E. NEUMANNCoast Guard (USCG),United StatesOne of the world’s leading maritime security forces, theUnited States Coast Guard (USCG), maintains public safetyin American ports and shipping lanes while also enforcinglaws against drug trafficking, environmental abuses, andillegal immigration. Created from a 1915 merger of the LifeSaving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service, the CoastGuard is unique among the nation’s armed services in thatit has two masters. The Coast Guard has historically beenattached to the U.S. Navy during times of war, but as ofMarch 1, 2003, the Coast Guard acts under the direction ofthe Department of Homeland Security (transferred fromthe Department of Transportation). The USCG plays amajor role in homeland security by screening passengerarrivals and conducting inspections at critical domesticports as well as engaging in patrols of the Americancoastline.The Coast Guard traces its origins to a 1790 act ofCongress authorizing the construction of vessels to enforcetariff and trade laws, prevent smuggling, and protectthe collection of the federal revenue. The Revenue CutterService that grew out of this order gradually assumed theadditional duties of derelict destruction, protection of game,and enforcement of environmental laws. When the RevenueCutter Service merged with the Life Saving Service,the newly formed USCG constituted a new branch of themilitary but a relatively poorly armed one. For most of itsexistence, the USCG has relied on light weapons thatcould be brought topside upon need while vessels operatinginland generally had only small arms aboard. In war,USCG ships would add mounted guns, but such weaponryhas not been deemed necessary for the routine peacetimeactivities of combating smuggling, assisting ships in distress,and conducting patrols.The task assigned to the USCG is a daunting one.Over 95% of America’s overseas trade moves by seathrough 361 ports along 95,000 miles of coastline. It ismore economical to bring in drugs and other illegal productsin bulk by sea instead of by air, a fact that hasprompted numerous traffickers to try their luck at evadingthe Coast Guard. To combat maritime smuggling, theservice designed radar especially for marine traffic surveillanceand control in 1972. At first, only operational inthe key ports of San Francisco, Houston, Galveston, NewOrleans, Puget Sound, and New York, radar is now commonlyused, but the chief counter-smuggling activity ofthe Coast Guard remains the patrol of American waters by221