Pubdate: Fri, 15 Sep 2006
Source: Lawrence Journal-World (KS)
Copyright: 2006 The Lawrence Journal-World
Contact: http://www.ljworld.com/site/submit_letter
Website: http://www.ljworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1075
Author: Eric Weslander
Note: Staff Writer George Diepenbrock Contributed To This Story.

POLICE USED HIGH-TECH SURVEILLANCE AT FESTIVAL

Hidden Cameras Helped In Drug Bust

Hidden, high-dollar equipment helped police crack down on drug 
dealing at this years Wakarusa Festival.

A new article in a trade journal, Government Security News, describes 
the roughly $250,000 worth of hidden-camera, night-vision and 
thermal- imaging equipment used by police throughout the festival 
grounds. The equipment was courtesy of a California company that 
agreed to give a free demonstration of its wares for marketing purposes.

The company estimated that they were able to cover 85 percent of the 
festival grounds with about a half dozen hidden cameras. One camera, 
for example, was mounted atop a light tower and used on Shakedown 
Street, a bustling area viewed as a problem spot for drug dealing.

Its hopefully a win-win for everybody except the crooks, said Mike 
McRory, vice president of business development for NS Microwave Inc., 
of Spring Valley, Calif., which markets security and surveillance 
equipment and is owned by the defense contractor Allied Defense Group.

The company builds covert cameras disguised as everything from 
electrical boxes to birdhouses. Theyre capable of seeing at night as 
long as theres some ambient light nearby such as a lantern or fire.

Nobody Knew

Four of its cameras were consistently deployed throughout the 
festival, and at least two others were there to be used as needed, 
according to the company. The cameras were controlled by a 
computerized command center in a 21-foot trailer that was parked atop 
a hill in the middle of a Frisbee golf course inside the park.

Nobody knew, said Kevin Danciak, the companys Midwestern sales 
representative. It just looked like parabolic dishes on top of a 
trailer. The plan to use the cameras came about when Danciak ran into 
Clinton State Park manager Jerry Schecher at a Kansas narcotics 
officers meeting early this year or late last year. Danciak was there 
to promote his equipment. Schecher was looking for answers to growing 
concerns about drug dealing at the festival, which was heading into 
its third year and was growing in popularity. Had there not been a 
strong move this year by law enforcement to control the situation, 
Schecher said, the state would not have allowed the festival to continue.

This is a crowd that has a high expectation of privacy and freedom, 
and I respect that, within limits, Schecher said. I struggled with 
this a little bit, but I felt like we were doing it for the right 
reasons. If it was meant to be Big Brother and spying on people, I 
wouldnt have done it. One festivalgoer said the hidden cameras were a 
shame and kind of embarrassing. I feel like it was really a big 
mistake because people at a festival are trying to have a good time 
and let loose. I would be willing to bet that most people wouldnt be 
OK with that had they known, Ali Mangan said.

She said law enforcement should have at leased publicized the hidden 
cameras. The surveillance was conducted at the expense of the privacy 
of people not selling drugs, Mangan said.

Safer Means

The main things the cameras captured, Danciak said, were hand-to-hand 
drug transactions and drug use. After zooming into an area where drug 
sales were happening, police could then send an officer in to make an 
undercover buy that was caught on camera.

We could see if there was a problem and then address it rather than 
just having to focus all of our foot patrols or enforcement in that 
area all of the time, Schecher said.

Danciak said the result was a safer way of busting drug deals. No 
fighting, no running, no guns drawn, nothing, he said. It was just, 
You pop around the corner, youre there, you identify yourself and you 
see people just deflate.

He declined comment on whether the cameras covered the festival stage 
areas or campground areas outside the festival.

At least a month before the festival began, Schecher said, promoter 
Brett Mosiman was notified of the plan for security cameras. Mosiman 
did not return phone calls Thursday seeking comment.

The cameras presence was not publicized in the Lawrence area before 
or after the festival.

The article in Government Security News said the images produced were 
so good that some alleged dealers entered pleas based on the strength 
of that evidence.

But Dist. Atty. Charles Branson, whose office is charged with 
prosecuting the cases, said he did not know of any cases in which 
that happened.

Many of those arrested at the festival were allowed to plead to lower 
charges in a massive docket call a few days after the hearing.

Police seized more than $11,000 in suspected drug money, but some of 
that came outside the festival grounds in a Kansas Highway Patrol checkpoint.

Lt. Kari Wempe, of the Douglas County Sheriffs Office, the lead 
agency at the festival, said the camera system worked well.

It gave a good overall aerial view of the grounds, which we would not 
have had otherwise, she said.

But so far, she said, the sheriff has no plans to buy any of the 
companys equipment. Schecher said he would like to use a similar 
system at the park in the future, perhaps for catching people who try 
to break into pay stations, but not necessarily for next years festival.

Kevin has nice toys, but theyre expensive, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine