Operation Virtual Shield

This article is part of a series about Richard M. Daley
Daley family Electoral history Tenure in Illinois State Senate Tenure as Cook County State's Attorney 1980 election 1984 election 1988 election Mayoralty Elections 1983 primary 1989 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2002–03 renovation of Soldier Field 2016 Summer Olympics bid Block 37 Demolition and closure of Meigs Field Hired Truck Program Crisis management Establishment of CDFM Chicago flood 1995 Chicago heat wave Events hosted by city 1994 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony 1996 DNC 2006 Gay Games Law enforcement and crime Civil unrest Chicago Bulls Championship riots CPD CAPS CLEAR Operation Virtual Shield CPD torture allegations Graffiti Blasters Parks and recreation projects Chicago Riverwalk Navy Pier revamp Northernly Island Millennium Park Park Grill controversy Museum Campus Ping Tom Memorial Park Public schools Renaissance 2010 Takeover of CPS control Transit Establishment of CDOT O'Hare Airport modernization and reconfiguration CTA Orange Line CTA Pink Line 2003–04 Chicago Skyway rehab Unrealized transit proposals Clinton Street Subway Airport Express Mid-City Transitway Lake Calumet Airport Privatization of Midway Airport
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Operation Virtual Shield is a program implemented by Chicago, IL mayor Richard M. Daley, which created the most extensive video surveillance network in the United States by linking more than 3000 surveillance cameras to a centralized monitoring system, which captures and processes camera feeds in real time. It also includes sensors such as biological, chemical, and radiological sensors. It is able to detect suspicious or dangerous activity and identify its location, and now incorporates facial recognition. Virtual Shield is also used to record activity at a potential crime scene before police arrive at a call. The cost of the program was $217 million, much of which came from Homeland Security grants. The retention time of technical data collected is 30 days.

Daley stated that Chicago will have a surveillance camera on every street corner by the year 2016.

• Closed-circuit television
• Human Identification At a Distance
• MATRIX
• Total Information Awareness
• Gabriel Villa

• Chicago's Camera Network Is Everywhere (Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2009)
• USPA International