Newark's Cameras Failed during Breach

Greece's Dimitris Salpigidis, left, and Czech Republic's Tomas Hubschman fight for the ball during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A match between Greece and Czech Republic in Wroclaw, Poland, Tuesday, June 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) / Antonio Calanni

Federal agents weren't able to immediately retrieve surveillance images of a man who breached security at Newark Liberty International Airport because a camera system wasn't working properly.

John Kelly, a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman, said the camera at a security checkpoint was streaming live images but wasn't recording them.

That made it impossible for Transportation Security Administration personnel to check an image of a man seen walking in through an exit door Sunday evening until it could view tapes from a nearby Continental Airlines surveillance camera.

It was not known how long the camera at the TSA security checkpoint had stopped storing footage because archived images are only retrieved if an incident has occurred or is suspected, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said Tuesday. According to Davis, TSA will check the cameras' archiving daily.

The cameras were installed by the Port Authority about two years ago, and the agency maintains and operates them.

The incident shut down an entire terminal at the airport and stopped flights for six hours. The man, who has not been identified or located, was seen on a surveillance camera image leaving the terminal about 20 minutes after the security breach.

[rwsmith29456]

How long have said cameras been dysfunctional??? They make it sound like it was just at that the time of the breach. We search 'everything' and then let the obvious slip by.

[nomealaska]

The cameras were working properly, the operators were not. If the only thing wrong with the cameras was that the recorder was not turned on or not maintained. Then don't blame the cameras as they are stupid already by nature and shouldn't shoulder any blame. Plus, who cares?

[afmcalax]

Again we are concentrating on the wrong thing. Having functional cameras and/or taping systems is a reactive response not pro-active. What the real issues are: 1. how was the man allowed to walk down into this exit area 2. why are there not barriers to keep people from getting in (i.e have a guard open or buzz the door open). The solution to this issue is low tech and cheap.

[ajvw]

same government we're going to give healthcare to. make sense to me. lol

[jsf14]

So are those body scanning machines maintained any better?

[observer2020]

Probably not and when they are working, you can take it to the bank that someone will be taping you and you'll end up on YouTube or someplace else on the internet. I understand that the people viewing the scanner and the people being scanned are supposed to be in different places--that will just make it that much easier for people to get away with taping everyone. Personnally, I totally refuse to fly anymore, which is making my pilot father very angry at me.

[wyodutch]

Well... just how much of the federal government do you think *is* working?
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The surprise is, they even admitted the cameras weren't working.
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And the highly-paid buffoon in charge of the camera network? Don't fret about her... she'll be just fine. After all... the government never fires such fine folks.