We Protest!

Leaving work the other day, I found I had to walk through a demonstration on a street corner. So ... what were they protesting? Oh, it was those evil cameras on the corner ... you know ... those evil cameras that snap pictures of drivers and their license plates when they run red lights. In fact, we here in Arizona have a sudden boom in the photo traffic enforcement arena. They're at street corners for red lights and they're on streets and freeways to catch speeders.

So, what is it that has these people so upset? I first went by their signs. It was "Camera fraud." They argue that the local governments that put these things up are making money by fining people caught breaking traffic laws. (I'm confused. Do local governments not make money when fining people caught breaking traffic laws by police officers?) But there is more. Several protesters had signs about privacy rights. Apparently it's a violation of your privacy to enforce the law with cameras. Oh, but it gets worse. Now those pesky camera folks want to use license plate recognition software to track criminals. At one particular intersection they've installed a red filter which could be used as part of an evil plot to photograph the faces of motorcyclists with helmet visors. Diabolical! And apparently it's the common belief. The local radio stations talk about it as if it's a given. It's wrong. It's evil. It violates the "innocent until proven guilty" clause. It's just a scam. It doesn't help safety at all. (You have to ignore the statistics to hold that, but most aren't normally bothered with facts when they make their claims.) It's wrong and everyone knows it.

What, then, is the issue? I'm not getting it. Apparently it is "fraud" to use anything except live police to enforce the law. I don't know why it is that cameras on ATMs, at banks, on toll roads, and so many other similar places haven't raised such a ruckus, but this one is it. It's wrong -- horribly wrong -- to use technology to enforce traffic laws. What we really need is officers on the beat to do the job. Oh, but, no, they can't actually chase you down. That causes a safety risk. So, they have to be live and they cannot pursue, so I suppose the only possibility at this point is to have speeders volunteer to pull over if a police officer -- an increasingly rare and expensive commodity on today's market -- happens to flash his (or her) lights at them. Otherwise, forgive the intrusion. Please ... speed on.

I wanted to tell them, this gaggle of angry protesters, "Do you want to know how to stop this 'intrusion into your privacy' that you are protesting? Don't break the law! Seriously! These camera systems aren't cheap. Stop running red lights and speeding (these only take your photo if you're more than 10 MPH over the speed limit), and you'll find that government entities can't afford to keep them around." It's a case of the tail wagging the dog here. "We protest you doing things that prevent us from breaking the law when we want!!" What? Come on, people, that's not making any sense at all. Stop breaking the law and the question goes away.