Alex Jones Interviews John Hurt⧸ TXDOT 1998 Pt 1 Of 3 [g5goguExYPk]

00:00 And it is Mr. Hurt, the head public relations person for Central Texas. This is ridiculous! It's about... He's a nice guy but just watch the whole thing and we'll repeat some of the things he says for you. ...Street from the Texas Department of Transportation and we're fixing to go over there and talk to Mr. Hurt their head person in public relations We suspect that is a camera pod. I've been telling everybody that those are what they plan to put cameras on because in other cities, I've seen poles just like that with the question mark wire, a lightning rod with cameras. We're fixing to go over and find out right now!

00:39 Sir, what's your position? Mr. Hurt here at the Department of Transportation I'm the Public Affairs Officer Alex Jones nice to meet you Nice to meet you We're doing a story about Big Brother And we know that San Antonio and Dallas and Houston are putting up quite a few cameras. Can you tell us exactly what the name of these systems are, where they're integrated? Where the video monitors are and exactly what it's for? Well they go by different names. San Antonio calls theirs TransGuide and Houston calls their TransStar Each city has a different name

01:17 their own particular setup. What it is, it's called an intelligent transportation system or ITS and it uses a... Smart highways? Smart highways yeah It uses an array of changeable message sign boards along with closed circuit television cameras sensors that are built into the road all of which are monitored at a remote location to give traffic management people, uh...a clear picture of what's going on in the city as they hold it any given moment. So it is actually better than helicopters because you can just punch a button and see an area where you wish? Right! They actually monitor this at a traffic management center that looks very much like mission control at NASA where they've got banks with people sitting behind computer terminals but they also have a large display in front of the room

02:04 It's like a schematic map of the city. Mr. Hurt, do you know how many cameras Houston or San Antonio has? No on the... not just right off hand on the selected roadways they're about every eighth of a mile there are quite a few of them. Hundreds! Yeah I think San Antonio right now has about probably 200 some odd miles that are under camera So every eighth of a mile we're talking thousands of cameras I'm not sure in the entire system of every eighth of a mile, but in the locations where they're particularly congested. The mixed masters? Yeah that's exactly right and when we start out here

02:44 online at least a couple by August of this year, down around the upper-lower level split. And we'll just monitor them here at our district office. What we ultimately hope to do is build a traffic management center in a couple years where we'll be there, the police department will be there, fire department EMS, the capital metro... Just an all integrated system? Right, we'll all be together I've seen them putting up polls you were saying Mr. Hurt, right across the street here is a pole that they're planning to put a camera on? Right what we've got Is the poles 183 you can see a lot of them there's some on interstate 35 They'll mount the cameras on those the little question mark shaped wire that comes out of it

03:24 is a lightning arrestor, it's supposed to be like a lightning rod. I've seen those...I've seen the poles that the cameras are on you and they have a little question mark? Yeah we don't have any cameras mounted yet but those poles are where they'll be. I've seen a few cameras down by y'all main office off 35th Street What are those cameras? We've done some testing of different types of cameras seeing which ones we liked best That's a testing area Now listen very carefully to the head of the Texas Department of Transportation, Public Relations person Mr. Hurt He was a nice person and pretty honest with us but he would try to say oh well it's for safety It's for EMS it's for this it's for that And then later off camera he says well yes we plan to give tickets with these cameras That is a federal plan it's done in California Then we turn the cameras back on and he admits it but not like he did off-camera

04:20 But we'll get to some other clips, but he tries to act like it's all for safety and all this other BS. That'd be fine if the government could be trusted! This is about tracking and controlling... It is about control of populations Everything is done with the best of intentions and most of the people pushing at low levels like Mr. Hurt think they're doing that, but we need to think about our liberties can this government be trusted? Can IRS be trusted with these tools? Can they be trusted with national ID cards thumb scanning it just goes on and on now the important point for everybody to note here is the contradiction

04:58 Mr. Hurt says that they're not planning to watch people drive around town, this is all for EMS All for fire, all for police Just like with Starflight here locally For surveillance They got you to pass the Travis County bond package under the guise of Starflight But then the sheriff on tape and many others admit that they're going to be using these two new helicopters for surveillance Now he says that they are not going to use it for that And later contradicts himself It's called double speak What are those cameras? We've done some testing of different types of cameras to see which ones we like the best. So that's a testing area? Right, but what it's not going to be is the situation where somebody can be sitting there watching you drive around town It's basically to monitor traffic as a whole in certain locations. Or if... It's not gonna monitor speed as far as uh.. What about fugitives I mean that might help in some of those cases Well I suppose you could use it for that but that's not its intended purpose Its a traffic management tool

05:56 You were saying, Mr. Hurt that this is mainly just for emergencies and clearing up traffic and directing people around traffic which sounds great But I would say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I think we need cameras, but the problem is I don't trust our federal government and I think any systems we put in they can easily step in and take control of for whatever they wish and Take California for instance and some other states where they take snapshots with a snapshot cameras Snapshot video cameras and then mail you a ticket now certainly you could say well You were breaking the law but I really don't just like the whole climate that i see growing around the country. What would you say to that? Well this is not a law enforcement tool, it's not something...I think that law enforcement would be disappointed if they actually and they will be part of the but I mean if they look at the camera and see the picture it's not like they're going to see your face

06:49 a broad view of an entire stretch of highway. Some of these cameras in San Antonio and Houston do have zoom capability though, don't they? Right! And we will have some zoom capability. We hand pan tilt all that to be able get the entire look at problem area But as far as being used to give you a ticket, that's not the purpose and I don't see that being the purpose. It is a traffic management tool and it is all part of an entire complex where we have already got sensors put in the road in parts of Interstate 35. What it does is tell how fast the traffic is moving up. That's the little black rubber bands that go across the street? No those are counters which you see are like loops. It has been cut into concrete down around 51st Street or in front of the airport. You will see like a square

07:32 It's been cut into the concrete. So the black bands are counters? Those are traffic counters, right Well that is all very understandable and very reasonable and needed to I'm sure in the modern age control roads find out where you need more roads all that The point i keep making it I know the federal government gives Texas and most of the states a lot of its highway funds. And sends along recommendations, advisors and ideas that they want implemented... ...and i just see the trend that's going on nationally of federal control Just to give you an example, just a month ago I went to San Antonio with Chief Ali Philippus who threw out the Delta Force for attempting to bribe him

08:13 And if you think I'm kidding, you can call down there and ask them. The Delta Force is going to train here in our little TV show and my radio show we're able to stop them from training here And I know that's not your purview and your area. I just want to communicate to you all, that is our fear We'll put in these systems That are there to help the public That are there to ensure safety and that law enforcement will become more under federal control You say that law enforcement though will be stationed at the main center that ya'll plan to construct? Well they'll be like a representative of the police department Maybe several on the object there Is to identify and dispatch Identify the type or problem they may have

07:32 It's been cut into the concrete. So the black bands are counters? Those are traffic counters, right Well that is all very understandable and very reasonable and needed to I'm sure in the modern age control roads find out where you need more roads all that The point i keep making it I know the federal government gives Texas and most of the states a lot of its highway funds. And sends along recommendations, advisors and ideas that they want implemented... ...and i just see the trend that's going on nationally of federal control Just to give you an example, just a month ago I went to San Antonio with Chief Ali Philippus who threw out the Delta Force for attempting to bribe him

08:13 And if you think I'm kidding, you can call down there and ask them. The Delta Force is going to train here in our little TV show and my radio show we're able to stop them from training here And I know that's not your purview and your area. I just want to communicate to you all, that is our fear We'll put in these systems That are there to help the public That are there to ensure safety and that law enforcement will become more under federal control You say that law enforcement though will be stationed at the main center that ya'll plan to construct? Well they'll be like a representative of the police department Maybe several on the object there Is to identify and dispatch Identify the type or problem they may have

08:51 even before somebody dials 911, they'll be able to say we've had an accident there. What about EMS? EMS will be there. The fire department will be there. Capital Metro will be there It's going to be a joint center where all of us are involved in traffic management