Sunday Gazette-Mail (West Virginia)
It takes a moment to grasp just how oddly attired the mannequin standing
in Steven Klindworth's showroom truly is.
At first, her black
baseball cap, blue jean jacket, men's paisley necktie and oversize
shoulder bag appear to be a misguided fashion statement. Then you
discover each contains a tiny hidden video camera displaying your every
move on a nearby TV monitor.
"There's also a ballpoint pen cam and a pager cam," said Klindworth, owner of Supercircuits Inc., pointing out pinhead-size lens holes for high-resolution cameras that are slightly larger than a quarter. "She's usually wearing a glasses cam, but we completely sold out and had to sell the demo."
Located north of Austin, Texas, Supercircuits designs and customizes surveillance equipment that it sells largely through catalog, phone and online orders. But a few customers—primarily law enforcement officers—make their way to this unlikely electronic outpost to get a firsthand feel for how these James Bond gadgets work.
"We've done for video security what Dell Computer and Golfsmith have done for computers and golf by marketing direct to the customer," said the 44-year-old entrepreneur, picking up a fake smoke detector and a fully functional clock radio that can be used to record activity in a room. "Some stuff we manufacture, and some we have built to our specifications. We also sell brand-name merchandise."
To date, about a third of his business comes from government and law enforcement agencies, Klindworth said. That's likely to increase in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks.
Recently, the company fielded inquiries from airports, police departments, federal agencies and even rescuers wanting to equip search dogs. A major aircraft manufacturer sent early signals that larger-than-normal orders may be coming.
This created great consternation for Klindworth, who doesn't want to appear to be cashing in on disaster but who does believe his company can help.
"There's absolutely no way we're going to profiteer from these horrendous acts," he said, adding that eight of his 35 employees are former military personnel. "But whatever the government needs, we plan to be there in a patriotic way and fulfill those needs in the most cost-effective way for the taxpayer."
Klindworth started the company with less than U.S. $100 in 1989 by placing classified ads in Popular Science and Radio Control Modeler. For $9.95, plus $3 shipping and handling, hobbyists got the schematics and instructions to mount a video transmitter in a model airplane for a bird's-eye view.
