Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/43/4355.asp

3/9/2014

California, Italy, UK: Traffic Cameras Trashed
Speed cameras are painted in California, torched in England and knocked over in Italy

Vigilantes in Oakland, California splashed a pair of red light cameras with pink paint on Wednesday. According to a post on the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, the Technophobic Women's Action Team attacked the devices to protest the city council's approval of a surveillance system called the Domain Awareness Center (DAC). The painted devices are located at the intersections of 36th Street and Market Street, and Northgate Avenue and 27th Street.

"There are only forty or so of these traffic cameras," the group said in a prepared statement. "The city of Oakland has a limited budget allocated for this project. We can nullify the DAC. We invite you to join us on a grand adventure. Get together with one, two, or three of your closest friends. Not the ones who posture and brag.... Scout out your targets. Decide your means. Do a dry run. Then, starting the 1st, we'll make the whole month of April a time of tomfoolery. We will make the DAC irrelevant."

A speed camera in Lincolnshire, England was set on fire February 23. The Lincolnshire Echo reports that police have charged Adrian Smith, 46, with torching the automated ticketing machine. A speed camera set on fire on January 14 on the A1 in Northumberland still has not been repaired, according to the Newcastle Journal. Another camera on the A1 at Charlton Mires has also been rendered useless. According to BBC News, the Lincolnshire Speed Camera Partnership has spent over £1 million (US $1.7 million) repairing or replacing speed cameras damaged by vigilantes. Four have been attacked so far this year.

In Mogliano Veneto, Italy, vigilantes knocked over a speed camera early Tuesday, Treviso Today reported. The device had been recently installed on the Via Roma.