Some of you may recall this post from a few years ago. In it I described how Palo Alto was spending over a million dollars a year to hire guys to stand at railroad tracks to make sure high schoolers didn’t leap in front of trains.
Well, I have an update to this.
Specifically:
Now, all four Caltrain crossings are monitored solely by G4S Secure Integration, a remote monitoring technology company in Burlington, Massachusetts.
The new monitoring system will save the city $1.35 million per year, according to a City press release.
The cameras have fixed, thermal and pan-tilt-zoom capabilities which can identify objects and humans up to 1,000 feet away in nearly 360-coverage, using artificial intelligence to identify “alarming” behaviors. Remote monitors out of G4S’s headquarters will call for emergency responder intervention and make announcements through the cameras to deter trespassers.
So basically Palo Alto has spent over $10 million to have guys stand around railroad tracks and, as far as I know, haven’t prevented a single suicide. But now they’ve gotten rid of the humans and have cameras instead.
If anyone has an island where I can escape, let me know.
