2/7/2010
Oregon, Germany, Italy, Poland, UK: Speed Cams Shot, Spraypainted, Stolen, SingedVigilantes use a variety of methods to disable and destroy traffic cameras in Oregon, England, Germany, Italy and Poland.
Vigilantes damaged a speed camera in Essex, England last Sunday at 9:40pm. The Thurrock Gazette reported that garbage piled on top of the camera was set alight, inflicting £7000 (US $11,000) in damage on the South Road speed camera located in the village of South Ockendon. The camera had also been damaged by fire two weeks previously.
In Medford, Oregon, vigilantes shot a red light camera at the intersection of Barnett Road and Stewart Avenue, preventing the device from wrongfully ticketing motorists where a "no right turn on red" sign had been improperly posted. City officials told the Medford Mail Tribune that the inappropriate sign was placed near the automated ticketing machine as the result of a "misunderstanding." The sign has been removed.
Armed vigilantes used a shotgun to take out a speed camera in Sardinia, Italy in the early morning hours of January 30. The same camera, near the castle of Eleonora, had been chopped down seven months ago. As the machine had issued more than ten thousand tickets in six months, local officials are rushing to have it replaced, L'Unione Sarda reported.
Around midnight last Thursday, vigilantes made off with the speed camera on the ring road at via Marchioni in Rovigo, Italy. Surveillance video recorded a highly organized group that completed the removal work in less than a minute, Corriere del Veneto reported. A Traffiphot III speed camera on the SR88 in Lendinara was set on fire two weeks previously. The same camera had been set on fire on December 6, 2008.
Vigilantes in Lohfelden, Germany used spraypaint and expanding foam to disable all four of the area's speed cameras last Thursday. The camera located on Crumabacher Street had also been attacked in October. Police have no idea who may be responsible.
Likewise, vigilantes in Czuchow, Poland covered a speed camera in white paint last week. Just one month ago, the same camera had been covered in blue paint, Nowiny reported.