Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/26/2652.asp

1/10/2009

Vigilantes Attack Speed Cameras in Arizona, France and Ireland
Irish cameras get smashed, French cameras are pretty in pink, and Arizona state police take note of camera vigilantes.

Vigilantes continue to damage speed cameras in Arizona, France and Ireland. The bent and twisted remains of an Irish automated ticketing system was found at the side of the road in County Louth in Dunleer last week. Police told the Independent newspaper that no accidents had been reported in the area that would have accounted for the damage.

Last Saturday, French vigilantes painted two speed cameras solid pink, covering the camera lenses and preventing the issuance of tickets. One device issued tickets on highway 165 toward Kervignac while the other was in Merlevenez. Ouest-France reported that a private company was dispatched quickly to remove the paint and resume the lucrative ticketing operations.

The latest available figures show there were 29,612 violent crimes reported in Arizona in 2007 and that only 38.3 percent of these cases were ever solved. Despite this, the Arizona Department of Public Safety announced it was devoting the resources of a team of investigators toward finding the individuals who placed Post-It Notes on a new speed camera located on US 60 near Alma School Road. According to KTAR-Television, police are upset that this represented the fourth Post-It Note incident in a month. In Scottsdale, a Redflex speed camera van was also hit and damaged by a flying tire while parked at the side of the road on Loop 202 at Scottsdale Road on Thursday. The incident appeared to be an accident, according to KTVK-Television.