Standing With Boston & Proud of Our Industry

SDM stands with the people of Boston in asserting that Americans refuse to be terrorized; refuse to be shut up in their homes, afraid to go anywhere in public. We deeply empathize with the people of Boston in their losses, and we hold in high esteem the people who acted heroically to help the injured following the Monday bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Besides these heroes, the only brightness in all of this despair is the detection — and hopefully the eventual identification — of a suspect, enabled by “promising images” from a department store surveillance camera mounted atop a building: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/51575894/#51575894.

Something that most people probably never considered, although I know it went through the minds of every one of SDM’s readers: Who sold and designed that surveillance system for the Lord & Taylor department store on Boylston St. in Boston? Who, fortunately in this instance, determined what the camera’s view would be? Who specified the make and model, and what features does the camera have? When was it installed? Who is the technician who installed it, paying careful attention to the image quality?

These are the details of our business, the minutia that matters in times like these: resolution, focus, lighting, field-of-view, protection from the elements — somebody did their job well and needs to be commended for it.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, among other leaders, understands the importance of society keeping pace with technology. At a press conference on Tuesday he remarked, “The Boston bombing is a terrible reminder of why we’ve made these investments, including camera technology, that could help us deter an attack,” he said. “Of course, no system is perfect and no system can eliminate the threat of an attack. That’s why it’s so important that we continually improve the system, especially as technology improves and allows us to expand our capabilities.”

Somebody in our industry may, in the end, be indirectly responsible for the identification of the person or people who did this terrible thing. We would like to know who you are and hear your story. If your company sold and installed this surveillance camera, won’t you please contact the editor at stepanekl@bnpmedia.com?

Special call-out to Al Shipp, chief executive of 3VR Inc., who was quoted in an article published in The New York Times yesterday, which discussed the FBI’s use of the images in greater detail.