Friends and enemies of surveillance cameras

Is the Baltimore area a trendsetter or late to the party when it comes to traffic and pedestrian cameras?

Last week, Melody Simmons detailed statistics for the thousands of speeders caught by state AND Baltimore City cameras; the story mentions that the city is considering adding cameras.

In July and November we looked at cameras used for surveillance beyond the streets, including in Baltimore City and County. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who’ll become Baltimore’s mayor in two weeks, has been a proponent of this video surveillance.

And cameras have been posted at local intersections to catch red-light runners for years.

What have other states, counties and cities been doing with cameras?

According to USA Today, not only did the trend of installing red-light cameras slow nationwide last year, but three states and three cities banned them (Nevada, New Hampshire, West Virginia and Wisconsin already prohibited them), and others are pushing to get rid of theirs.

But in California, where so many trends are born, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to add speed sensors to red-light cameras at hundreds of intersections to bring in more money.

Here in Maryland, the stated purpose of traffic cameras is safety, but many people believe the cameras exist to generate money from fines while not necessarily saving lives.