TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – A group of Santa impersonators are on the naughty list of Arizona law enforcement officials.
A YouTube video posted Monday shows four people dressed as Kris Kringle, white beards and red hats included, covering three speed and red light enforcement cameras in Tempe.
Two are covered with boxes – one decorated with Christmas wrap – and the third is blocked with what appears to be a red sheet. The Jackson 5’s “Santa Claus is coming to town” plays during the more than two-minute video.
At the end is a message that reads: “Ho Ho Ho! Death to the surveillance state! Free movement for all people!”
The group that posted the video also wrote “lumps of coal to all of those who make it their business to watch and control.”
Thank you Santa.
Is this a viral video for Canon Image Stablization?
I hate speed traps as much as the next guy, but these aren’t really “surveillance” cameras, as they’re only activated when someone is breaking the law. Surveillance is always observing, always recording (like mall & store cameras).
I agree with red light cameras, but I do see the slippery slope of what if they could flip a switch that turned these from “take a photo when someone runs a red light” to “just always record all cars at all times and use software to track license plate numbers”. As this tech becomes cheaper, it’s easy to see how police would want this at every intersection.
I don’t mind if they catch speeders and people that run red lights before they kill somebody but the kids that are taking pictures of liscense plates, making copies the right size and driving around getting tickets sent to other people may be going to knock the camerias in the head anyway.
These cameras replace traffic cops, and they don’t do anything about drunk drivers or tailgaters which are far more dangerous than someone going 10 mph over the speed limit.
I also live in Tempe and a day doesn’t go by where I don’t fantasize about doing something far worse than these guys.
How about this for a scenario that sounds Orwellian, until you think about it for a minute. All those traffic camera’s start getting turned on, the pics get downloaded instantly, the license plates are analyzed and time stamped, and the average speed from one camera to another is determined by time between pictures taken, that way, they can determine if someone is a chronic speeder so the next time they get pulled over, they run the license plate, see this as a potential threat, and don’t “let them off with just a warning”. How do they get away with such an intrusion? Simple. They just simply say “It’s a way to keep our children safe”.
“Keeping Children Safe” is the stock go-to answer for anything the State wants to do that might impinge on your freedom. Just say those magic words and anyone who opposes you suddenly becomes “against children”.
5,
Well done! In fact, in the UK, they do exactly that on the Motorways (M). They calculate your average speed and send you the bill.
That is possibly the worst camera work I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I had to turn it off after a few seconds.
kind of reminds me of this
http://digg.com/autos/Maryland_Students_Use_Speed_Cameras_for_Revenge
Santa earned his cookies this year. Fight the power Santa!
#3 is correct: http://www.thesentinel.com/302730670790449.php
I remember hearing about a couple lawsuits because a city, who hired a contractor to install and maintain the traffic cameras, also added in the contract the maintenance to the traffic light. So, operating on a profit over public welfare ratio, the engineers shortened the yellow span of the light.
i live in arizona and before those damn cameras were installed i would do 80 or more,w ahtever the flow of traffic. after these cameras were installed it made traffic worse because instead of going faster to avoid cars lining up everyone must drive slower o0r get flashed. its annoying, and its not cool. good job to these santa guys! makes me want to block all the ones down the highway- they’re about 3 or 4 miles apart and blieve me its annoying if you arent paying attention and tha shit flashes
@eyeofthetiger
It was more than one city. Law and order types are quite shameless about their hypocrisy.
#7. hopper- it was filmed using Sony’s new SHAKYCAM Technology.
@GetSmart
You get a gold star and a cookie.
#14, I was actually thinking of a high-pressure water sprayer spraying black paint. Your aim doesn’t have to be quite to good.
These camera are not installed for public safty, they were sold and installed as money making machines.
#9, winston,
Can you offer any proof that anyone has actually done what was claimed? Read your own effen link. There are no names or actual incidents reported, just bullshit.
If this is on going then all the police need do is set up an unmarked car speed trap to catch people. They could then check the plate to see if it is real.
The reason police go after speeders is not only because they are easy to spot, but because speeding is usually also associated with dangerous driving, DUI, and other crimes. Speeding is also shown to be a factor in the cause and severity of accidents.
If you don’t like the limit then see your local councilperson about changing it. Ignoring the law because you disagree is bound to land you in jail.
Wah-waha-wah. This whole surveillance system was devised by Arizona Democratic Governor Janet Napalitano so she could increase revenue for the state and local communities because of her budget shortfall. I hope you enjoy her as head of Homeland Security Obamatards. Thank GOD a Republican will replace her as Governor.
Mr. Fusion
About faking the plates. I could do it. I’m pretty sure anyone could do it with a digital cameria, a computer and a color printer. I don’t think the cameras being used to take the pictures for the cops are super high def which is what you’d need to notice any difference at a distance.
If you want to catch them you might try walking around parking lots. That is how the locals check to see if you pay your wheel tax.
However what the kids were reported as doing would have been putting on the fake tags, speeding where they knew they’d get caught by a camera, then quickly ditching the fake tag. The cops still might get some clues from the car modal but the odds are the kids wouldn’t be caught unless their face was in a picture.
I guess how hard this would be to pull off would depend on exactly what all was in the picture. I only have to have a rear tag and if they take a picture of the back of my car with the wrong tag number they don’t have much.
As for the rest I agree.
These are not “Speed” cameras at all. Only red light cameras. Running red lights causes extremely deadly accidents.
Well, if the local/state governments are to be believed then right after this happened those intersections immediately became more dangerous and the death toll of children continues to climb.
Or, more likely, their revenues saw dip that day until they got crews out there to remove the boxes/wrapping.
I remember back in the early 1990s right before they decided to remove the national speed limit of 55MPH. The authorities were predicting that our streets would run red with blood as people would be driving at 65MPH! Crazy unsafe, they told us. Accidents/deaths went down, though…
@22 – mentro972
>>These are not “Speed” cameras at all. Only
>>red light cameras.
No. They’re speedcameras. Just like the headline says. Good idea to know what you’re talking about BEFORE you talk, hm?
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/21/2180.asp
I firmly believe the bot cameras are set up to gather revenue, not increase traffic safety. I’ve been driving for 25 years and have witnseed exactly one person run a red light and cause an accident, and I’m certain that person was DUI. If this was such a godawful problem wouldn’t I see it more often?
God bless those Santas- with one caveat: The cameras taken from elsewhere in America should be redeployed along the border to catch the Mexican illegals.
They are only speed cameras. The only thing they do is take a picture of your car if it goes over the sensors too fast. The cops are ridiculous here in Phoenix. Instead of actually catching drunks driving they just take pictures.
Plus, people who live here in Phoenix have eventually figured out where these cameras are so it’s usually dumb people getting tickets or people who are new to town.
Either way it’s just a way for the cops too make some cash in this economy.
#25, Rich,
Congratulations on driving for 25 yrs now and having only seen ONE incident. I’ve been driving for almost 40 years and I can tell you I’ve seen at least 100 dangerous Red Light problems and at least 10 where the person just ran the light. Either you don’t drive much or the people in your area are good drivers.
Seeding IS associated and directly correlated with the causation and severity of accidents along with several other crimes. Yes, it would be better that there were enough police to patrol the streets and catch all the drunks and dangerous drivers, but not too many people want to pay the taxes to accomplish that.
If you get a ticket than you were either speeding or the cop is in error. You do have the option of fighting the ticket. But if you don’t, you are accepting that you did indeed break the law. Calling any traffic infraction a money grab is just an excuse to ignore the law with impunity.
It’s interesting that in many cities the accident rate has gone up after cameras were installed. It seems that rear-ending is increased. If this were really about safety, you would think they would take these down after findings like that. Instead, they just shorten the yellow light times.
Also, I have been wrongfully ticketed by a camera on the 101 in Scottsdale. It misread somebody else’s license plate and sent me the ticket even though I was driving the wrong type of car. I know about the algorithms behind these systems. I’ve written similar letter-detection software. It isn’t perfect technology. There is nobody looking at these tickets (they claim 4 people do, I asked). It’s a real hassle to have to deal with an accusation by a computer in order to avoid a default judgement against you. What happened to my right to confront my accuser?
Holy Crap People! If you dont like the cameras, quite running the lights! Simple as that! and NO a yellow light does NOT mean speed up before it turns red!