U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has praised Chicago for the number of public and private surveillance cameras it has put up city wide.

The Chicago Sun Times reported Napolitano called the more than 10,000-camera network among the "top two or three" in the nation.

"Homeland security begins with hometown security," she said. "You can't have one without the other.
    
Mayor Richard Daley said the cameras are the key to keeping the city safe and wants to continue to expand the program.

"Expansion of cameras citywide is one of the highest priorities that will help us here in the city of Chicago," Daley said Thursday with Napolitano at his side. "Cameras are the key. They are a deterrent. They solve crimes. It deals with terrorism. It deals with gangs, guns and drugs in our society."

Critics of the cameras call the security measures a Big Brother network.