The New York City Police Department now has "The most advanced and technological counter-terrorism bureau that anyone has ever seen."

NY - A new crime-tracking system designed jointly by the New York Police Department and Microsoft Corp. will pool existing data from cameras, 911 calls and other technologies to provide crime fighters with a comprehensive view of threats and criminal activity, as well as provide the city with a new revenue source.

The Domain Awareness System will be able to map suspects' movements and provide NYPD investigators and analysts with real-time crime alerts.

...the system will allow NYPD personnel to track a suspect's car, and find out where it's been located in the past days or weeks synthesizing archived video footage and license plate reader data. Other potential uses include mapping criminal history geospatially and chronologically to reveal patterns, and the ability to instantly see suspect arrest records, 911 calls associated with the suspect and related crimes occurring in the area. (more) (60 Minutes video) 
This afternoon the NYPD debuted their "all-seeing" Domain Awareness System, which syncs the city's 3,000 closed circuit camera feeds in Lower Manhattan, Midtown, and near bridges and tunnels with arrest records, 911 calls, license plate recognition technology, and even radiation detectors. Mayor Bloomberg dismissed concerns that this represented the most glaring example of Big Brother-style policing. "What you're seeing is what the private sector has used for a long time," Bloomberg said. "If you walk around with a cell phone, the cell phone company knows where you are…We're not your mom and pop's police department anymore."

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly stated that the system, which is currently operational out of the department's Lower Manhattan Security Commission HQ, was developed with a "state of the art privacy policy" and "working with the privacy community," but did not offer specifics. DAS does not have facial recognition technology at this time, but "it's something that's very close to being developed," the mayor said.  

The system was developed with Microsoft and paid for by the city for $30 to $40 million, and has already been in use for six months. The feeds compiled by the system are kept for thirty days, then erased.

The City will receive 30% on the profits Microsoft will make selling it to other cities, although Mayor Bloomberg declined to say if that money would go back into the NYPD. "Maybe we'll even make a few bucks." (more)