(Los Angeles Jewish Journal) Simone Wilson - LAPD Deputy Chief Jose Perez, a 30-year veteran of the department, tweeted updates at nearly every stop of his homeland security tour of Israel. The 8-member Los Angeles delegation visited the headquarters of Nice Systems, an Israeli security and cyber intelligence company that can intercept and instantly analyze video, audio and text-based communications. (An inspirational poster on the wall read: "Every voice deserves to be heard.") The group visited private security firms and drone manufacturers, as well as a "safe city" underground control center in Rishon LeZion, which receives live streams from more than 1,000 cameras with license plate recognition installed throughout the city. Surveillance drones were hot items on the tour, particularly HoverMast, a new tethered drone from Sky Sapience that would be helpful for crowd control at special events. The HoverMast can intercept wireless communications, and its cameras are capable of facial recognition. The LAPD-Israel bond was in large part fused by former LAPD Chief William Bratton during his chiefdom from 2002 to 2009. At a town hall meeting near the end of his term, Bratton said of Israeli intelligence experts: "They are our allies. They are some of the best at what they do in the world."
2014-02-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive