Red Light Camera Help Catch Killer in AZ

That is great news.Hopefully the next purse snatcher will think twice.

There will always be conspicary theroies on cameras and the government but not much on how they solve crimes. The criminals will always fight against hem saying they are invading their privacy (criminal activity)!

A good Security Camera outside the restaurant would have generated the same lead, but weeks faster.

You don't have to worry about Security Cameras or Speed Cameras if you ain't doing nothing wrong !!

But they could help find your assailant if something should "happen" to you !

Just one 75 year old's opinion.

___

I respect the fact that you are 75 and have more than earned the right to share your opinions. But really? The "if you ain't doing nothing wrong" reason to lose your a portion of your privacy rights is about as poor a reason as anyone could offer.

You may have nothing to hide but would you really want officers searching your home periodically just to make sure that you were not up to no good?

At 75 perhaps there is nothing that you consider too private to share, but think back to your younger days, weren't there things that you simply prefered to keep to yourself or your family?

Your privacy rights are constitutionally based and a lot of lives have been lost and/or sacrificed to protect that constitution and the country that it guides.

I respectfully disagree with your opinion, sir.

I guess I just haven't got anything to hide !

And my constitutional rights allow me to say that !

They had to subvert one of your Constitutional Rights just to use them.

Do ya know which one?

By the way, I'm older than you!

You don't have a "right to privacy" when you are out in public. Anyone - including law enforcement - can legally observe any actions you take. And if said action is illegal, you can be prosecuted for it. How is having a camera monitor your speed a violation of your "right to privacy"? It is only enforcing the restrictions place upon your privilege of operating a motor vehicle - yes, you don't have a "right" to drive on a public roadway in any manner you wish.

___

While I was using privacy in a general sense to address the "if you don't have anything to hide" comment, all of us absolutely have right to privacy while in public and more specfically in your car.

That expectation of privacy is less than the privacy that you can rightly expect in your home but it exists. A simple example is the police cannot constitutionally stop a car for no reason and then search it. A significant amount of search and seizure law relates to this traffic stops, pat downs and other police/citizen contacts that occur in public.

For a recent SCT discussion about the 4th Amendment read Gant v. Arizona, 129 S.Ct. 1710 (2009).

As it relates to red-light and speed cameras, some jurisdictions do not permit the munipality or red-light company to take photographs of a person's face. They can only record the rear of the vehicle and the traffic light color or the school zone signs/signals. That is also based on a privacy concern.

You are right, that an officer can watch you, just as anyone could. However, watching someone is not the only way that government/police make contact with people who are in public. Finally, I never suggested that people had a right to drive on the public roads anyway that they wished.

I hope that this cleared up any misunderstanding that you may have had.

Agree with you 100%. Great post.

By complaining about a camera monitoring the way you drive is "implying" that a person has the right to drive anyway they want on the road.

As with any law/restriction "If you do not do anything wrong you have nothing to fear" is a valid excuse.

Just like cheating on your taxes, if you don't cheat you have nothing to worry about.

When that camera catches you that is a valid excuse right there. Myself I feel they should have the drivers picture shown. Why? I lend my car to someone and they get caught who is going to get fined? The owner. Yes there is those that are going to say "Well I never let any drive my car". What about your children when they where learning how to drive?

The other problem is these laws are not designed to keep the law abiding citizen in line. They are designed for those that think they can get a way with not obeying the traffic light. After all what is the harm in running a traffic light? None if nobody gets hurt. But I have seen too many accidents and fatalities because someone decide to run a light. As soon as you are a near victim of a light you will wish for a camera or officer being there to get the tag of the vehicle that nearly hit you and you family.

Also in the states here we have it pretty good as far as privacy goes. Those that have traveled extensivily overseas should know this.

This is the way that society is going. There will be more and more cameras in the future. There is no way to stop it. Except for the initial cost it is cheaper to have one individual to watch a dozen or so cameras then to have a dozen individual watching those same areas. It is all about money on both sides, creating revenue, which you do not break the law you do not contribute to the revenue, and saving money by not paying someone to be there. But instead of putting someone out of work the individual that was in the area of the camera can now be in an area that works better to have a human presence.