We know all we need about the Port Security Grant now. At tonight's public meeting, the third and final public meeting on the Port Security Grant, I asked why the system is run by the City of Seattle Police and not the Port of Seattle Police. The answer from Assistant Chief McDonagh: to get to the port, you need to walk down the sidewalk in Seattle. This response is exactly what everyone seems to be afraid of.

Just over a week ago, I sent in a formal appeal regarding the Seattle Police Department's response to my early February request for the records and maps relating to the wireless mesh network. Like clockwork, I received a reply 5 business days later stating that the department was reviewing my request, and that I would receive a response on May 1st, 2013. I really hope this was an April fools joke.

I just got home from the police department's meeting at Belltown Community Center, and I have to say, it was an interesting night. The meeting attendance was extremely light, I don't believe anyone was actually there to learn about the issue. The room was about half city employees, one third against the police, and the rest citizens concerned about the cameras. I was expecting the meeting to be controlled by the police department, but instead it was taken over by the anti-police crowd. Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh did a splendid job allowing the group to make fools of themselves.

Right on schedule, my public records request for info on the Wireless Mesh Network is back. What I've seen so far is alarming. I found 36 cameras ordered, with network capacity and infrastructure for over 180. Even better, the camera has a face detection function which, per the manual: "detects the position of human face and the information is sent by XML or video stream."

Hopefully you are all aware of the new cameras the Seattle Police Department is installing all around the city. The Seattle Police Department claims they only plan to install a few dozen cameras, however I don't believe that is true. Based on several related actions, the department likely has plans to install hundreds of cameras around the city.