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Cameras To Watch Cameras In Maryland
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."
That's a race condition if I ever saw one...
Who watches the cameras that watches cameras?
This is obviously the right way for our society to go.
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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.
Doesn't a simple strobe light work?
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Simply burn them. Here are burnt Gatsos in the UK: http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm
sudo mod me up
...camera watches camera!
In the United States, it's the other way around.
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If anyone sees you destroying the thing you're going to get in trouble anyway, so we are assuming the people are doing it when no one is around. In which case, wear a mask, park where the thing cant see your car, and walk right on up to it lol.
The camera watching cameras are an easy target, and I don't think people really buy the safety crap anymore. Its a money making teacher and we all know it
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getting rid of revenue cameras would be easier instead of watching Americans like paranoid communists.
While I can't say I'm a fan of speed cameras, and in fact the thought of vandalizing them has crossed my mind on occasion, the two I encounter routinely in Baltimore County are right out in front of elementary schools with lots of cute little pedestrians around them. So, it's hard for me to be entirely critical of the effort - at least because it does what it's supposed to - it reminds me to slow down before I run over some kid. If instead they were everywhere, I would be much more in opposition to them.
The companies lobbying for speed cameras now are using the revenue from earlier speed camera income to do so. That's a fundamental flaw in how our government is structured, the ultimate cause of many problems. If you allow a company to profit from shady activities, then they can use those profits to hire lobbyists supporting even more of their shady activities, that is a sound business model. You can't expect regular people to out-lobby them; where does their money come from? Me the anti-camera guy, I have no effective lobbyist voice available to me, unless I raise money to do so. That's why companies profiting from the voters will out-lobby voters every time.
There is no solution here that doesn't make corporate funded lobbyists illegal. The concept of the paid lobbyist who influences our lawmakers makes a travesty of the idea that voters matter.
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.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
From the article,
Liberati says the cameras aren't a case of Big Brother nor a cash grab, police are simply trying to keep the public safe from reckless drivers.
That's a hard sell; speeding tickets (et al) pay police/transit dept budgets. This makes it hard for the public to understand that the police are there to help. The problem with speeding is that it can be done safely, and there are plenty of people who regularly speed without risk of accidents. I've encountered more near-accidents created by Highway Patrol than by speeders (which is in part a public stupidity item -- the radar gun already clocked your speed well before you slammed on the breaks and forced the guy behind you to do likewise).
I'm a stats guy. I would support these cameras if they were used for statistical purposes, and I do not support them due to the current money flow. Here is my modest proposal:
Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
That's a race condition if I ever saw one...
Sounds more like an infinite recursion, if you ask me:
installMonitoringCamera(Camera cameraToMonitor) {
Camera monitoringCamera = new Camera(cameraToMonitor);
monitoringCamera.monitor();
if(monitoringCamera.observesSomeAssholeSettingFireToMonitoredCamera())
installMonitoringCamera(monitoringCamera);
}
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
Many police officers find civil liberties frustrating, and some officers take out their rage on citizens. But now there's a new solution: cameras to watch the police.