On Jan 20, 2005, at 3:44 PM, Leurquin, Ronald wrote:
Does anyone know the status of the much discussed camera cops for ticketing persons running red lights? I personally am hoping we get them sooner rather than later. I was privileged to watch two different semi run the light at 50th and Hiawatha this morning.
This is an interesting issue to me.
On one hand, I have a fundamental discomfort with surveillance systems being used by the state or state-sanctioned offices to spy on citizens.
On the other hand, enforcement of traffic laws is always criticized as either not sufficient to force good behavior on the road or taking away police officers from more pressing concerns.
In the end, I'm not sure that I'm fond of the cameras. I obey the laws -we ALL obey the laws, don't we? <insert cynical smile, here>- but even if it means fining another bad driver $100, I feel that the cold, impartial eye of a camera is something that I don't want watching me. Personally, I may be willing to live with the status quo or paying for more traffic patrol officers as "visible deterrent" rather than relying upon a somewhat Orwellian approach.
I trust the police; I trust the real, human officers who can walk up to my window if I've broken a law. I can talk to that person and I appreciate the human quality of it. The cameras are another issue altogether. The analogy that springs to mind is the automated voice mail systems that have made talking to your doctor such a chore. I feel that a dispassionate, computer-controlled system is something that is intimidating.
I'm not sure I want to feel as if Minneapolis is now under the protective eye of something that I can't accept as "human." Even if live police are monitoring the cameras on the other end, I would still feel this way ... as if I was, to an extent, under "lockdown" in my own home.
I hope these feelings make sense to you; I want to bring my view as clearly as possible without sounding "nuts."
Yours,
David J Rust
NE Minneapolis
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