Cameras To Watch Cameras In Maryland 297
Cornwallis writes in with a story reminding cameras everywhere that just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't watching you. "Many people find speed cameras frustrating, and some in the region are taking their rage out on the cameras themselves.
But now there's a new solution: cameras to watch the cameras. One is already in place, and Prince George's County Police Maj. Robert V. Liberati hopes to have up to a dozen more before the end of the year.
'It's not worth going to jail over a $40 ticket or an arson or destruction of property charge,' says Liberati."
Excellent! (Score:5, Insightful)
Except... (Score:5, Insightful)
There's no possible way someone would think of destroying the camera-observing-camera BEFORE the speed camera.
Then you end up with TWO broken cameras, and didn't accomplish anything.
Re:Except... (Score:5, Insightful)
Gee, that really increases the difficulty (Score:3, Insightful)
First of all (Score:5, Insightful)
get rid of all the cameras (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:um... (Score:3, Insightful)
Sadly, knowing people, they'll move to a longer range mechanism of destruction, that will be much less feasible to observe with a detection net.
And of course, some of these people will miss. Some of these misses will damage property of innocent 3rd parties, possibly harm innocent bystanders, and possibly even kill innocent bystanders. The sad part is, these people, will pass blame for their actions onto the government, rather than taking responsibility for what they've done, and feel completely justified in doing so. The response to this will be the government putting up more cameras...
Not saying that a I approve of the cameras, either, but two wrongs don't make a right, especially when the second is done to an innocent bystander. This escalation is also scaring me.
Re:um... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Good. (Score:4, Insightful)
The law is the law, and if the speed limit is 55 or 60 inside Baltimore City then that's what the drivers should be doing. If they find that objectionable rather than destroy the cameras, they should be lobbying to have the speed increased to 65.
Except that my observation is that almost everyone wants to drive above the speed limit. If almost everyone wants to do something, should it be illegal? Perhaps yes, but I think it's a good question to ask.
Re:Who watches the watchers? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Blind the camera (Score:4, Insightful)
Besides... do you think they'd show everyone how to defeat a law enforcement device?
Police Brutality Cameras to Follow (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:um... (Score:4, Insightful)
Nobody needs to get violent. There still is this thing called a ballot box. Anyone who has voted for an incumbent official no matter where or when is part of the problem. Don't hang the unresponsive officials, but just vote them out and let them get a real job in the private economy, if they can find one.
Re:um... (Score:2, Insightful)
Wow, do you actually believe that or is the threshold-control on my sarcasm-detector set too high?
These cameras hurt the working-poor the most. A $50-$250 fine doesn't hurt the middle class family when the adults think nothing of, say, blowing that much at the local casino in a weekend, or even in a night.
It does hurt the working-poor who are barely surviving paycheck to paycheck, struggling to pay rent, eat, and keep a vehicle on the road to get to work with, as a $50-$250 fine (or even more in some places) can mean loss/impounding of their vehicle (or at least their ability to drive it legally), losing their job, becoming homeless, etc in a cascading effect. I've done volunteer work at homeless shelters. I've watched it happen to a lot of people.
The talk about how there are so many families one paycheck away from homelessness started when?...the '80s with Reagan?
How many more do you think there are these days? Do you think the margin they're existing on has gotten wider or narrower?
There's also a basic flaw with traffic laws and regulations that have a fixed fine amount with no means of having them automatically adjust for average income of the community. A fine set forth in a law that seemed reasonable for the community, say for example, during an economic boom (assuming that community saw an average increase in it's population's income) would become cruel and unusual during an economic depression/recession when the average income has fallen dramatically.
Strat