Civilians in the Maryland/D.C area have been vandalizing speed cameras, causing Prince George’s county to install security cameras to watch the speed cameras. There have been six incidents since April of people vandalizing the cameras. There have been reports of people shooting the cameras, tipping the cameras over, and cutting off the legs and stealing them. “It costs us $30,000 to $100,000 to replace a camera. That’s a significant loss in the program. Plus it also takes a camera off the street that operates and slows people down. So there’s a loss of safety for the community,” says police major Robert Liberati
The speed cameras can’t take photos of the vandals because of Maryland law. Under the law, the cameras can only take pictures of speeding violations. Liberati thinks many of the problems come from the congested traffic that slows down the roads, making drivers lash out on the cameras as an easy target. “We’ve taken the additional step of marking our cameras to let people know that there is surveillance,” said Liberati.
