4/3/2011
Germany, Mexico: Speed Cameras TargetedVigilantes grab German speed camera. Mexican officials hide devices behind razor wire.
In Wiesensteig, Germany vigilantes tied a chain to a speed camera Monday and ripped the device right out of its solid, concrete base, Sudwest Presse reported. Once downed, the camera head was removed from the pole and taken by the team responsible for the attack. Devices were similarly grabbed from Waldhausen in February 1998 and from Eybach in October 2006. Area cameras are also routinely spraypainted or shot. Police have no idea who might be responsible.
In Jalisco, Mexico authorities have gone to the extreme of surrounding the speed camera systems with barbed wire to protect them from vigilantes. Both the camera unit and a separate flash unit each are housed within their own chainlink cage at the side of the road. Both are festooned with razor-sharp wire and "Attention" signs that warn of the cameras themselves being watched by other cameras on a 24-hour basis.