U.S. Develops Urban Surveillance System

Police can envision limited domestic uses for an urban surveillance system the Pentagon is developing but doubt they could use the full system which is designed to track and analyze the movement of every vehicle in a city.

Dubbed "Combat Zones That See," the project is intended to help the U.S. military protect troops and fight in cities overseas.

Scientists and privacy experts say the unclassified technology also could easily be adapted to keep tabs on Americans.

The project's centerpiece would be groundbreaking computer software capable of automatically identifying vehicles by size, color, shape and license tag, or drivers and passengers by face.

Credit: Geoff Metcalf