Santa's helpers disable naughty cameras in Tempe

[BR_Parkway]

Run time: 02:32 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T43LtGNFLPw   Posted on YouTube: December 22, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 24, 2008 By DU Member: BR_Parkway Views on DU: 3146

 
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.''


http://kfyi.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=&article=4766345

[Ian David]

1. I hope they don't get caught. The sheriff will make them wear those costumes in his tent prison. nt

[Buzz Clik]

2. Filmed in Shaky Vision.

[tomm2thumbs]

3. they'll put cameras to catch speeders, but not in Congressional offices to catch the real crooks

seems to me they would rather go after common everyday americans than the real criminals in this country

[Lifetimedem]

4. I once heard

That when a government loses control to the criminal element they have to justify their existence by going after minor offenses by law abiding citizens .That is why littering, seat belts and talking on your cell phone while driving are found in the law.

[Trogus]

27. hmmm

"littering, seat belts and talking on your cell phone"

First one; if you've ever had to pick up a lot of other peoples litter, then you wouldn't feel any sympathy for them.

Second & Third; those are both clear safety issues, and i doubt you could call any resultant fatalities caused by the failure to use a seat belt, or by some moron who thinks their right to blabber incessantly on their phone while driving is more important than someones life, minor. But your general point is a good one.

[Lifetimedem]

5. I have to say I agree

Big brother has too many electronic eyes for my taste.

[AzNick]

25. It's just a different tax, that's all...

I call it the speeding tax.

I have paid it myself. Why I dislike it is because I am not an aggressive driver. I don't tailgate nor make aggressive lane changes. Also I learned to drive in the military and have learned to drive fast but without taking too many risks.

They could easily go after the aggressive drivers, who cause more accidents, but they will not give as many tickets as they would by just putting these cameras up and using those photo enforcement vans they use in the Phoenix area.

Note: to be valid, these citations have to be delivered by hand by an office, in Arizona.

[byronius]

6. I used to live there. Good Job, Santas.

Tempe used to be kinda nice in the seventies. Became a police state in the eighties.

I hate going back.

[kdpeters]

7. Thank you, Santa.

Just what I always wanted. Seriously.

[awoke_in_2003]

8. Good for them...

when they put those damn cameras up they don't just put up a camera, they shorten the time it takes for the light to change from green to yellow to red. There is one up the street from me, and it has a hair trigger. Speed limit is forty, and if you see it go yellow you better lock it up.

[Matariki]

9. Bravo! Great message!

[formercia]

10. One good thing about a Depression

Police departments won't have the money to engage in such foolery.

[bagrman]

11. The Brits have been hanging tires on these and roasting them.

http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm


(edit) added link.

[Roland99]

12. Question.

Are these cameras known to have some problem with not capturing people just running red lights? Because if there are no regular malfunctions then, um, well...running a red light is bad...mmmkay?

[izquierdista]

13. Ever turn right on red?

You'll be getting a ticket for that too......mmmkay?

[Roland99]

14. A driver is *supposed* to stop before turning right on red.

Why are people in such a damned hurry anymore? Saving .4 seconds by not stopping to check for traffic before turning right is going to make or break someone's day?

[Wednesdays]

15. The problem with these cameras is they're not human

You can't cross-examine a camera in court. A human would be able to tell if there are extenuating circumstances, etc.

[izquierdista]

16. Yes, stop , turn right, get a ticket

That's the way the machines are programmed....mmmkay?

[madeline_con]

19. It's legal in FL.

[TheEuclideanOne]

28. Perhaps I am missing the point, but I am innocent until proven guilty. When you

start putting cameras into our society to watch us, you are violating my right to privacy. If the government said something blatant like "we want to put cameras on every street, in every building, in every house to watch YOU and collect information about YOU and you will be arrested if you do anything that the government does not agree with" you may object. Then again, YOU may not. If the government says that they want to read every one of your emails, listen to every one of your phone conversations, watch every one of your videos, you may object. Then again YOU may not.

The reality is that this is how it starts. Something simple like, "We are automating a system to stop people from running red lights". You wouldn't want people to run red lights now, would you? As you said, running a red light is bad. or "We are reading all of your emails to make sure you are not a terrorist". You wouldn't want terrorists to do anything bad to our country, would you?. Terrorism is bad. The current tools used to "fight terrorists" are already starting to be used by law enforcement against every day citizens. Now. That is how it happens.

It all starts with people justifying to themselves that is okay for the government to watch them because they are "not doing anything wrong". The current and future generations may grow up in a society where cameras are everywhere. This will be, in part, to that type of mentality. I am pretty sure that you would not want police forcing themselves into your house and watching you in case you commit any kind of crime. "Crime is bad, mmmkay", so that would probably be okay with you, right? Believe it or not, although visually, having a police man in your house watching your every move, sounds very intrusive, but what is happening today is far more intrusive, it is just not as obvious as if a policeman were physically next to you.

[TheEuclideanOne]

29. This protest is about surveillance, not about running a red light.

These individuals are not 4 angry people who have gotten tickets running a red light and are angry. It is about surveillance and whether the government has the right to watch you.

I see a bunch of posts about how running red lights is wrong, people are in too much of a rush, etc. If that is the point being understood here after watching the video, then the main point is being completely missed. You should watch the statement at the end of the video.

[Pastiche423]

17. Now that's some holiday cheer I can get into!

Bravo, Santas!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

18. LOL! It's kinda funny. I HATE having cameras observing me everywhere. On the other hand....

There are PLENTY of a-hole drivers I pray get caught and wish those cameras would help catch. You know the type, the ones with the emotional-psychological-anger problems:

1) Aggressive drivers that you know one day will shoot somebody on the road
2) Drivers that think the road is a frikkin' speedway
3) Drivers that see you trying to get into another lane and purposely make it impossible for you to do so
4) Slow drivers that REFUSE to drive on the right lane
5) Drivers did not get into the left lane in time, and instead of moving ahead and making a turn up ahead, by golly, they're going to hold up the entire road for miles behind because they're... well, SPECIAL!


I have more but that's enough! :crazy:

[madeline_con]

20. Wouldn't it be hilarious if some drunk asshole took

out a family in a hit and run, and was never caught because of this precious holiday prank?

[spag68]

21. Hit and run

Hit and run drivers got caught without cameras for all those years. Cameras are just another strike at civil liberties

[madeline_con]

22. What civil liberty is being taken away by filming a street corner?

Anyone can set up a camera and do it all day. There's no expectation of privacy in public. If a person wants privacy, they stay home and close the blinds.

[Chulanowa]

24. It's a form of taxation

As others have pointed out, these things snap a picture and the bill comes in the mail. Even if you're performing a legal maneuver.

Also your "what if" scenario doesn't apply, as these cameras only trigger on certain stimuli - speed, motion during lights, and the like.

And sorry, but I'm one of those crazies who doesn't think you should have to pay $200 automatically because you accelerated by 1 MPH coming downhill or making a turn.

[madeline_con]

31. I seriously doubt if a 1mph increase in speed would result

in a $200 fine.

[Chulanowa]

33. Feel free to give it a try. These things are automated tickets

If you're over the speed limit, then the computer says you're over the speed limit and you get the full cost of violating that law. Doesn't matter if it's two or twenty over. As pointed out, these things are there to generate revenue - they're even placed in areas that cause speeding. Speed limits are often dropped on the particular road when the radar cameras are installed, as well.

[TheEuclideanOne]

30. The government loves people just like you, Madeline_Con. Let me

use your own logic here to make my point. If you take your earlier argument, the government should put cameras in your home as well. What if a family gets killed in their own home by a murderer and it was not caught on film to catch the guy. Would that justify to you that it is okay to have cameras in your home? As you pointed out, somebody could get killed by a person running a red light, so it is okay for them to have cameras watching us to make sure we can get the bad guy, right? Why shouldn't that concept be applied elsewhere, including your homes.

In future generations, where the government has unlimited powers to invade your privacy so that they can "protect you", it will all be traced back to people who don't see any problem with the foundation that is being laid today. Pat yourself on your back because you are helping to make this a reality.

The idea that you can be so comfortable with "staying in your home and closing your blinds" as your only option for maintaining your civil rights is pretty scary to me. The sad reality is that, even "inside your home, with your blinds shut", you currently don't have privacy. The government is watching everything that you do on your computer and listening to your phone calls.

When future generations are in a police state, they will read in their history books about our generation. A generation where cameras were not watching/tracking/recording your every move...where the idea of "innocent until proven guilty" was not a myth.... where emails and phone conversations were not listened to. I think that they will really HATE the generation that just gave that all away because they think that the government is keeping them safer by watching their every move.

[madeline_con]

32. The thing about cameras in my home is absurd.

If you honestly think I'm stupid enough to see that as a logical next step, you've insulted me and I no longer wish to continue our conversation. That really sucks. :(

[TheEuclideanOne]

34. I was not suggesting that you see that as a logical next step.

I was merely following your logic through when you justify that "catching some asshole who commits a hit and run" was an acceptable justification for having cameras on street corners. Much the same way that you are obviously not in favor of having a camera in your home watching you, I am not in favor of having a camera in public streets watching me.

At some point, it won't really matter whether YOU see it as a logical next step. If you get too comfortable with having cameras in public places, then you many not have control over where they are placed next. That is the problem that I am trying to point out here. Something this controversial will start off sounding innocent..... just putting a few camera's in a few public places to catch traffic violations. It will not start off with something controversial like having a camera in everybody's house. However, if you give the government control to do what YOU consider harmless, you will not be able to stop it when it get's to the point where you are against it.

[madeline_con]

35. Look, standing on a street corner is public.

Hence, the huge difference between public and private. I and others like me still draw the line at being "comfortable" enough to go Orwell for our own protection and rig our homes with governemtn surveillance equipment.

As for civil rights, I don't think a camera placed in a public venue violates any of them. I do realize the camera could be used to take away civil rights, but we have nuclear medicine and nuclear weapons. It's our job as citizens to allow the police to do their legitimate duty, without getting into infringement. Watching traffic is not infringement, IMO. If, as one poster said, speed traps are set up to generate revenue, that is the time for the average Joe to get down to the next city council meeting and get the ball rolling to get rid of it. that's exercising civil rifghts so as not to lose them.

The governemt has neither the time nor the manpower to watch all 300 million of us. Our purchases are tracked via credit and debit cards, and our movements as far as when we entered a particular parking lot or store can be replayed for police if an "incident" occurs.

I just think it's the epitome of paranoiia to feel like these things will lead to a police state. We all hate the cops until we need one.

[TheEuclideanOne]

36. Good girl.

The government can have cameras in every facet our our lives. That is okay with you because they will protect us, right?

"I do realize the camera could be used to take away civil rights, but..."
"The government has neither the time nor the manpower to watch all 300 million of us."
"We all hate the cops until we need one."
I can go on, but that is just one paragraph filled with justifications to abandon your civil liberties. At risk of putting words in your mouth, I would bet almost any amount of money that you are also very quick to say that you don't know why people are worried if they haven't done anything wrong.

For somebody who has been very active in this discussion board, you must not be reading any of the articles and posts on how the constitution is being desecrated and our liberties are being taken away. I just must be paranoid. If you have kids, be sure to instill your philosophy in them and tell them that the government has rights to record every facet of their lives. Thanks to people with your mentality, that is what is being created. Don't worry about your civil liberties. Worrying about that is the epitome of paranoia. Be good little citizens, just like mommy and everything will be alright.

For the record, I don't hate cops and I don't consider myself to be paranoid, I just keep up with the goings on in our political system and have found far too many examples of our government acting "less than benevolent" and being run by people with bad intentions. I am hopeful that things will change with the new administration, though.

[Indenturedebtor]

26. Yes, we should give more power to the police to keep us safe

They would never ever use that power to suppress us. That sort of thing could never happen here. :eyes:

Kudos to these guys.

I'll take my chances with the morons over a "benevolent" big brother anyday thanks.

[jeff30997]

23. Err..

Now I'm all mixed up !

Can someone help me here ?

Kris Kringle, white beards and red hats ?

WTF???

[Joanne98]

37. I just tried to post that! Ya beat me!!!