Mayor Bloomberg has added a stop in London to his scheduled visit to Europe this week. The reason: to scope out the city’s famed surveillance-camera system known as the “ring of steel.” Bloomberg is interested in setting up a similar system of 3,000 cameras in lower Manhattan which would run the city about $200 million. As the Times notes today, there’s already a “ring of steel” in the city, but the cameras are owned by private companies and not easily accessible for the police. Sounds like Bloomberg wants a whole host of cameras that he can watch himself while he pets his cat. [WNYC]
