Beware of Arizona Saguaro Cactus
Last year traveling through Florida we spotted a series of cameras along with a large sign on the highway that they were monitoring license plates....HERE is that earlier topic. I guess Arizona is ...
Forum Discussion
First of all, the article calls these "hidden" cameras. If they are "hidden" how come the public knows about them? In looking at the photos, if they were trying to install "hidden" cameras, they did a really bad job. Anybody with one working eyeball can see the camera in the cactus.
Second of all, all these cameras are doing is capturing information that is plainly out in the public view. If you don't want somebody to see you drive through an intersection, then don't drive through that intersection. But if you do drive it through it, then somebody may see you and a camera may record your license plate.
Thirdly, the information in these cameras can actually be used for a lot of stuff. It is checking for stolen and wanted vehicles, but it is also recording all license plates of every car that passes by along with the date and time. That information can potentially be used for all kinds of things. For example lets say your house gets broken into and all your property was stolen. A neighbor comes out and says, "Yeah I saw this newer Chev van parked in front of your house and I thought it was odd, but I didn't write down the license plate." Well guess what, that license plate reader in the cactus down the road did get the license plate of that Chev van and maybe the cops can go find the suspects.
Another use, the local bank downtown gets robbed. Somebody gets a license plate of the get away car. The dispatcher can run that plate through the camera database and potentially get the route they took to get into town, and monitor them every time they pass a camera on the way out of town.
There are just so many good things that can be done with these cameras. How many times have you heard of people witness a crime but they only get part of the license plate. They know it was a small white compact car and the last three numbers on the plate were 398. Guess what? You can search for 398 in the camera database and look at photos of every car that passed the cameras with 398 in the plate until you find the small white compact car then you have a place to start looking.
I can go on and on about what they can do with these cameras. And oh yeah, if you drive down the road past one of the cameras you'll get your license plate read and the police will know your vehicle went down the road! Oh my!
Second of all, all these cameras are doing is capturing information that is plainly out in the public view. If you don't want somebody to see you drive through an intersection, then don't drive through that intersection. But if you do drive it through it, then somebody may see you and a camera may record your license plate.
Thirdly, the information in these cameras can actually be used for a lot of stuff. It is checking for stolen and wanted vehicles, but it is also recording all license plates of every car that passes by along with the date and time. That information can potentially be used for all kinds of things. For example lets say your house gets broken into and all your property was stolen. A neighbor comes out and says, "Yeah I saw this newer Chev van parked in front of your house and I thought it was odd, but I didn't write down the license plate." Well guess what, that license plate reader in the cactus down the road did get the license plate of that Chev van and maybe the cops can go find the suspects.
Another use, the local bank downtown gets robbed. Somebody gets a license plate of the get away car. The dispatcher can run that plate through the camera database and potentially get the route they took to get into town, and monitor them every time they pass a camera on the way out of town.
There are just so many good things that can be done with these cameras. How many times have you heard of people witness a crime but they only get part of the license plate. They know it was a small white compact car and the last three numbers on the plate were 398. Guess what? You can search for 398 in the camera database and look at photos of every car that passed the cameras with 398 in the plate until you find the small white compact car then you have a place to start looking.
I can go on and on about what they can do with these cameras. And oh yeah, if you drive down the road past one of the cameras you'll get your license plate read and the police will know your vehicle went down the road! Oh my!
