A newly-activated speed camera on Cromwell Bridge Road near Loch Raven High School was found vandalized Friday morning.
Officers responded to a call that the speed camera had been spray-painted around 7:45 a.m., said Elise Armacost, a police spokeswoman.
Light red paint was used to paint expletives on the camera casing and the lens, Armacost said. The camera was not rendered inoperable as a result of the vandalism.
Armacost said the camera vendor, ACS, is responsible for repairing damage to the cameras. By Friday afternoon the camera had been cleaned and is operational.
This is not the first incident of speed camera vandalism the county has dealt with this year.
Back in April, a speed camera on Rolling Road in Catonsville and later, in June, that same camera was in much the same way the one near Loch Raven was.
The camera on Cromwell Bridge Road is one of the five that recently became operational on Aug. 8.
BTW, your idea will cost the county absolutely nothing. The county pays its costs via your (and my) tax money.
It clearly states that the Camera Company pays for repairs, and they get their money through a percentage of each ticket issued. So if fewer tickets are issued, it will cost both the County and the company. but since these are not about revenue generation it really shouldn't matter.
"Sean Colin 5:06 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012 To those responsible: In the future just use a matte finished clear coat spray so the lens is covered and cannot read the license plates, this will not draw attention to the unit and will COST THE COUNTY and the operator $$$$." (caps are mine) Clearly, these cameras are about making money. Does that make vandalizing them OK? Parking meters and tolls on tunnels and bridges are about making money. Shall we vandalize these as well? I am not a fan of speed cameras. However, their location is well known, signs warn you as you approach them, so failure to slow down in a speed camera zone is simply volunteering to provide revenue for the county. It is not clear why this failure to act rationally (slow down for the camera) should lead to acting irrationally (vandalizing or destroying property that belongs to someone else).
If the State/County honestly wanted to slow vehicles down, they would use traffic calming devices like speed bumps, traffic chokers(narrowing the lanes), or even rumble strips. Placing passive systems on the side of the road that sends you a bill two weeks after the offense and does not stop the act of speeding shows they don't care about the issue, they care about money. I believe that trivializing speeding by treating it no different than a parking ticket, in that the driver is not identified, no points, just pay the fine, is another example of their lack of caring. I have never seen a speed bump vandalized, because they work and people don't second guess the purpose of it. So as long these are in use, people will react with frustration which sometimes comes out as vandalism.
this blog is an example of the effectiveness.Speed camera's are a "cop out" perceived solution to a very real problem. Our government should do better to avoid this type of protest.