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Life & Times Transcript
09/01/05 Roger Cooper>> Tonight on Life and Times -- It takes more than a sharp pair of eyes to be a good cop, but should we let a car do police work? Sgt. Dan Gomez>> A good officer in a ten-hour shift could maybe do a hundred twenty licenses. With this car, the automated system can easily run about eight thousand plates in that same amount of time. Roger Cooper>> And then, a trip around the world. No, we didn't get to go, but our critics size up films based in Africa, North Korea and Fiji. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> It could make a huge dent in the number of stolen cars that are actually recovered. It's a new technology: cameras that can scan hundreds of license plate numbers in the time it takes an officer to scan just a few. But there are some concerns. Hena Cuevas went on a ride-along to see how this anti-car theft technology works. Hena Cuevas>> In Los Angeles, one in five crimes is a car theft. Compared to the national average, there are fifty percent more vehicles stolen here. But now police officers, Christine Labriola and Ryan Nguyen, have a new weapon in their fight against car thieves. It's a high-tech vehicle that gives them an extra set of eyes for the road. Christine Labriola>> Well, it frees up our hands and that gives actually two sets of eyes instead of one set of eyes to look at our surroundings and see what's going on. Hena Cuevas>> It's called the Smart Car, a one-of-a-kind vehicle that's being tested out in Los Angeles's high crime Rampart Division of the LAPD. Sgt. Dan Gomez>> The Smart Car is unique because what it does is it incorporates a lot of technologies into one vehicle. Hena Cuevas>> Sergeant Dan Gomez specializes in providing officers with high-tech gizmos. This is the latest one. Sgt. Dan Gomez>> As far as we know, this particular vehicle is the only vehicle like that in the United States where it combines all this technology into one vehicle used in this manner. Hena Cuevas>> Its official name is the License Plate Recognition Vehicle. This is how it works. Multiple cameras on top of the car -- in this case, two -- record and scan information as the car drives along. The camera can read the plates of cars even as they're moving by, similar to a bar code scanner at a grocery story. Christine Labriola>> As we go by, it's making this little dinging. That's telling me it's reading plates. Hena Cuevas>> The system then compares the plates it reads with the license numbers of vehicles that have been reported stolen. If it finds a match -- Christine Labriola>> It's going to go to big screen and it's going to alert you with a signal letting you know if that car may possibly be stolen. And it makes it nice because it has that audible sound, so I don't have to be focused on the screen. I can just drive around and, once I hear that, I look at the picture. If it's on the right side of the screen, it's going to let me know that the vehicle is going to be to the right of me. If it's on the left side of the screen, it's going to be to the left of me. Hena Cuevas>> On the screen, the officers can see not only the plate number, but also a picture of the vehicle. Christine Labriola>> So it makes it much easier when I've got to make a U-turn and I've got to go chase that car down. Instead of just looking for a license plate, I have a picture of the vehicle like this vehicle here. Now I'll be able to find it much quicker. Hena Cuevas>> Normally, officers have to manually input the license plates of vehicles they suspect are stolen and run it through the database, something Gomez says could be a thing of the past since the Smart Car has increased scanning capacity enormously. Sgt. Dan Gomez>> A good officer in a ten-hour shift could maybe do a hundred twenty licenses. With this car, the automated system can easily run about eight thousand plates in that same amount of time. Christine Labriola>> Usually in a year, my partner and I would maybe be able to get ten stolen cars that were out rolling. This year so far, we've had over twenty-five ourselves in just a few months of doing it. Hena Cuevas>> It can also work the other way. Officers can input a wanted license plate number and the Smart Car will keep an eye out for it. Sgt. Dan Gomez>> Amber alerts, warrants, any of those databases can be put because the computer simply looks at the numbers and then compares to whatever database is in the vehicle. Hena Cuevas>> The system can scan the license plates of vehicles not only parked alongside a street, but also traveling at high speeds on the freeways. But with this new technology and all of this information, there are concerns about privacy and its possible illegal use. Ricardo Garcia>> Today we're talking about taking the pictures of a license plate. Tomorrow it might be a different technology. These things together combined change how we function as a society. Hena Cuevas>> Ricardo Garcia is an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. Even though he doesn't have a problem with the license plate technology itself, he wonders what the collective effect of these monitoring systems popping up everywhere will be. Ricardo Garcia>> If you look at individual ones, you know, they're packaged in a very neat, sexy way to resolve a particular issue. But when you stop and look at all of them together, which is really how they function, they're part of a greater surveillance technology to monitor what goes on in the streets of Los Angeles or other cities. Sgt. Dan Gomez>> We understand peoples' concerns about their privacy and we're being very strict in terms of our guidelines and how we deploy it. We deploy it in only public spaces where people have no expectation of privacy and we're very careful with that and we will continue to be in the future. Hena Cuevas>> But could someone get into the system and tamper with the license plate numbers? Gomez says no because the databases come directly from the Justice Department. Sgt. Dan Gomez>> At the end, when we pull the information out, again, it can't be tampered by the officer. It's simply wireless taken out of the vehicle and put into a secure server where it's encrypted and can't be changed. Hena Cuevas>> About half an hour into this ride, the system spots a stolen vehicle. The image fills the entire monitor. Ryan Nguyen>> So the first thing we do is look at the monitor, verify where the vehicle is and if it's rolling or not. Obviously, this looks like it's parked. Hena Cuevas>> Since the machine may have misread the number, every alert is always verified over the radio. [Film Clip] Christine Labriola>> "Yeah, it looks like they pretty much stripped it." Hena Cuevas>> Their first stolen vehicle in less than an hour. Christine Labriola>> "The whole ignition is missing from the inside." Hena Cuevas>> According to Gomez, it also helps reduce bias and racism by making the process more objective. Remember how officers have to manually input suspicious plates? Many times they're influenced by who's driving the car, what it looks like and where they are, but the Smart Car -- Sgt. Dan Gomez>> Isn't looking for gender or race. All it's looking for is numbers. Hena Cuevas>> But like every new technology, the system has its glitches and that's why this test period is so important. Christine Labriola>> My partner and I are street cops, so we're telling them, you know what, this doesn't work, we don't want this, we want this, and they're more than happy to accommodate us. Sgt. Dan Gomez>> The technology is no good if it's too complicated. We want simple technology to add as a force multiplier to our officers. Hena Cuevas>> Toward the end of our ride, an SUV speeds by and the machine beeps once again. The chase continues as it's verified over the radio, but it turns out to be a misread. The officers check the list of numbers and see that the problem is that the machine read a "3" as a "B". Christine Labriola>> Sometimes when the numbers or letters are similar, it may give us a false read and that's what it did there. Once again, we always do a double-check and voice it over the radio. Hena Cuevas>> The cars cost an estimated twenty to forty thousand dollars. If this trial works out, they hope to have half a dozen of them on the streets. But ACLU's Garcia hopes they don't make officers lazy. Ricardo Garcia>> The technology, if it's a substitute for good police work, that's a concern. That is something that would be a problem. Hena Cuevas>> But Labriola says this technology, together with their street smarts, holds great promise and could make a major dent in the thirty-three thousand vehicles that are stolen every year. Christine Labriola>> You know, technology is huge and what we're finding is, if the knuckleheads get smarter out there, we need to get smarter. Hena Cuevas>> I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times. Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> Labor Day is a chance for American workers to step back and appreciate the impact that the labor movement has had on their lives and their wages. One man in particular helped build up the Longshoremen's Union into the powerful organization it is today. His name was Harry Bridges, and now Bridges is the subject of a theatre and film project. I stopped Union Hall in Wilmington a couple of years ago where real life longshoremen are part of the cast. Ian Ruskin>> "Number of eligible employees, 26,965. That's us." Val Zavala>> Ian Ruskin is an English actor. He’s playing the part of Harry Bridges, the fiery labor leader from Australia who founded the Longshoremen’s Union in America. [Film Clip] Ian Ruskin>> I came across him by being in a play. I was cast to play him in a play about eight or nine years ago. Val Zavala>> So you had to change your accent slightly from British to Australian? Ian Ruskin>> Well, yes, yes. I mean, he had a kind of -- you know, he talked a bit like that. He would say, see, things like that, but he didn’t have a very, very strong accent. He had a sort of Australian, but, you know, he lost a little bit of it, although I think he kept a bit of it on purpose just to be different (laughter). Val Zavala>> More than six decades have passed since Harry Bridges began his long fight for worker rights and yet some of the issues sound surprisingly contemporary. [Film Clip] Ian Ruskin>> That’s set in 1960. What they call the M & M Agreement, the Modernization and Mechanization Agreement. But this was the agreement to allow containers, for the waterfront to use containers. This was Harry trying to sell the idea to the rank and file because a lot of them did not like it. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> Ian didn’t have to look far for his fellow actors. He found them at Local 35 of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union. They’ve taken to their roles effortlessly. Well, from what I saw, these guys are really good. Joseph Donato>> Well, the ones that are stepping up to the plate are definitely here to see and to watch and to be a part of history because that’s what this will be. [Film Clip] Ian Ruskin>> He was a very exciting man. He always said he was a working stiff. On the other hand, he could meet presidents and royalty and the bosses and he was unimpressed by position. He lived in a little house, he drove an old car. There were always stories about one time the union got him a car, a nice new car. He said, you know, what the hell is this? I don’t want this. Get rid of this. He went back to his old Ford Falcon. But he also knew Orson Welles. He’d go and have lunch with Orson. And he knew Charlie Chaplin. He loved knowing movie stars. Val Zavala>> And so it seems appropriate that Ian Ruskin has engaged the talents of a major Hollywood filmmaker. Haskell Wexler is a two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer. His credits include “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. He will incorporate film of the stage performance into a larger documentary about Harry Bridges. You could be doing a multi-million dollar movie, but you’re doing this. How come? Haskell Wexler>> Well, if the choice between making meaningful documentaries and making crappy features is the choice that I have, then, of course, I would prefer making documentaries. But I make documentaries all the time and always have. Val Zavala>> Although Harry Bridges Boulevard is just a block away from the Union Hall, a lot of union members didn't know a lot about Harry Bridges or his long battle with the United States government. Ian Ruskin>> He had twenty-one years of hearings and trials accused of being a communist, the longest I think in American history. It's amazing. In 1941 -- this is just one of the things I discovered -- the House of Representatives passed a bill to deport Harry bridges by name, all other laws notwithstanding. Val Zavala>> That's unconstitutional to write a law without first -- Ian Ruskin>> -- and the Attorney General went to the House and said you cannot do this. But that's the only time they've ever done that. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> Harry Bridges was a man ahead of his time. He was opposed to racism and knew that, if blacks were not allowed in the union, they would work against the union during the strike. Then he defied the laws against mixed marriages. Ian Ruskin>> Well, they went to Reno to get married and they were turned down. Val Zavala>> Because she was Japanese? Ian Ruskin>> Japanese-American, anti-miscegenation law. There's a great thing Harry said. He said that I kept saying that I'm the foreigner. She's an American. So they got married and that led to a lot of states changing that law. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> If Harry Bridges were alive today, he would tackle the issue of globalization with the same fervor as he embraced other controversies. Ian Ruskin>> I think he would say you have to go and organize other countries. You have to organize the workers who are working for that very low wage and making the product that we buy in America. He had no problem with the union taking all kinds of stands on foreign policy. In fact, there's a famous -- the Bill Moyers interview where he said, "Interfere with the foreign policy in our country? Sure as hell, that's our job, that's our right, that's our privilege, that's our duty." [Film Clip] Ian Ruskin>> He had a lot of opposition and he would come to make speeches and people would boo him. One guy said to me once, he said Harry Bridges had the skin of a rhinoceros. He'd stand there and he'd just let them boo. Sometimes he'd then start to talk very, very quietly and say, well, you know, and the guy would say, shut up, what's he saying? Then gradually he'd start to talk louder. Val Zavala>> And yet, for all his firmly-held principles, Harry Bridges was also a pragmatist. Ian Ruskin>> I would say that economically he was a Marxist in his philosophy. But he always said this is a capitalist system and, when you negotiate, the other side has to get something as well. We can't get it all. He had a vision and he was also a pragmatist. Val Zavala>> The documentary on Harry Bridges is now finished and you can see it. It's screening at the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro this Sunday. For details, go to their website at theharrybridgesproject.org. To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Larry Mantle>> Welcome to FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC. Our first film this week, "The Constant Gardener", is a thriller, an adaptation of the John Le Carre book, directed by Fernando Meirelles and starring Ray Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> I'm joined this week by critics Jean Oppenheimer of New Times and Henry Sheehan of henrysheehan.com. Jean, what did you think of "The Constant Gardener"? Jean Oppenheimer>> Well, the last film that Brazilian director, Fernando Meirelles, did was "City of God" and that was a really brutal but dazzling film that's really a tough act to follow. I actually think that Meirelles has done a really fine job here. Rather than going with just some broad romantic drama, which he easily could have done, this film is almost as political as was "City of God". I liked that about it. Ray Fiennes gives, I think, his best performance really since "Schindler's List". He's perfect as the main character who's this very mild-mannered British civil servant who becomes involved in investigating his wife's murder and finding out what she had been investigating. I really think that, overall, it's a very intelligent film. In structure, you really have to pay attention to figure out what's going on. Larry Mantle>> Henry? Henry Sheehan>> Well, I'll start out by saying that I thought this was a good movie and I enjoyed it and would recommend it and certainly not stop anyone from seeing it, but I did have some reservations largely to do with the relationship between Ray Fiennes' character and his wife, Rachel Weisz. I thought it was too exaggerated, the differences between them, which forced Fiennes into playing -- he overdoes the mild-manneredness. I mean, he's such a Casper Milquetoast that it's almost unimaginable when he does, you know, get some spine to look into his wife's death. There wasn't enough about the marriage. There wasn't enough about the tension in the marriage between this careerist diplomat and his crusading wife. I think there should have been more there, more about her motives in marrying him in the first place. But again, these are reservations about what I thought was a good movie. Larry Mantle>> Our second film this week is a documentary from one of the directors of the critically acclaimed "Hoop Dreams". Steve James tells the story of a man and his family who work in the film business and write who move to a Fijian island to show movies for the populace. The film is titled "Reel Paradise". [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Henry, what did you think of "Reel Paradise"? Henry Sheehan>> Well, I thought this was a good movie (laughter) about a really obnoxious guy and it took me a while to actually separate out my hostility towards John Pierson who's the central figure in the movie and the movie itself. John Pierson was a producer's rep for a lot of successful independent films in the 1980's and 1990's and he wrote a book about it, "Spike Mike" and I forget the rest of the title. But he goes to one of the most obscure or the most hard to reach of the Fiji Islands and reopens a cinema and shows movies there. But, you know, his function he seems to feel is not simply to entertain these people, but to uplift them or to educate them and he doesn't seem to realize that he's taking the same position towards them that Catholic missionaries, who he's severely critical of, also took to these people. I mean, he's trying to convert them to his point of view and, you know, he becomes just as dismissive of the troublesome natives as any English Puba would be. Larry Mantle>> Jean, what did you think? Jean Oppenheimer>> I didn't like this film and part of the reason is the same as Henry. I really did not cotton to this guy, John Pierson. Also, they decided they were only going to shoot the final month this family was there and nothing that preceded it and I just feel that the family, particularly John and his daughter, were playing to the camera. I mean, part of me wondered is John Pierson really this much of a jerk or was he playing that role in a way? And the girl plays to the camera, which is okay because the mother mentions it. But I think another big problem I had is that I've been seeing so many outstanding documentaries recently, including one we're about to discuss, that this just couldn't compare with any of them. Larry Mantle>> And we close this week with another documentary. "A State of Mind" is from British director, Daniel Gordon, who travels to North Korea to tell the story of two teenage girls who are deep into preparation for the gymnastics competition known as the Mass Games. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Well, Jean, what did you think of "A State of Mind"? Jean Oppenheimer>> Well, this is a really fascinating documentary and I actually think it's sort of a must-see. It's ostensibly about two young girls, one is eleven and one is thirteen, who are gymnasts in North Korea. The gymnastics that you see is fabulous. It's like a Busby Berkeley extravaganza. But what's most interesting about the film is the insight and the sort of political history lesson you get about North Korea. All the people that are profiled are really likable. They sit around and it's so fascinating talking about U.S. imperialists and U.S. aggressors and the misinformation that they have been fed. On that level, I thought it was very important because we never get to see anything about North Korea. I also think, as a documentary, it was very imaginatively directed and put together. Larry Mantle>> Do you agree, Henry? Henry Sheehan>> Yeah, this is a fascinating film. It's the second film about North Korea by Daniel Gordon. He directed a film called "The Game of Their Lives" about a North Korean soccer team that entered the World Cup in the mid-1960's and did very well, much better than anybody suspected. In this movie, he does a wonderful job of aligning these Mass Games in the whole idea of the synchronized gymnastics with the country's ideology itself, which is to subsume the individual into the mass. But the practices these girls go through are so great. I mean, they're just a show in themselves. I mean, they're so good at practicing that the show itself is almost an anticlimax because you've seen them do such remarkable things. So I think both as just a gymnastics film and as a story about politics in one of the most unknown countries in the world, maybe the most unknown, this is really a must-see, really a fascinating film. Larry Mantle>> And we thank you for joining us for another FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC joined by critics Henry Sheehan of henrysheehan.com and Jean Oppenheimer of New Times. Please join us again next week at this same time for another FilmWeek on Life and Times. Val Zavala>> KPCC radio broadcasts a full hour of FilmWeek Friday mornings at eleven a.m. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you tomorrow. Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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