5/11/2015
France, Germany, Italy: Speed Cameras Attacks And Bribery ConvictionsRocks and spraypaint disable speed cameras throughout Europe. Police chief in Italy is sentenced to prison for taking speed camera bribes.
In Seyches, France, vigilantes used blue spraypaint and aluminum foil to disable a speed camera on May 2. Sud Ouest reports that the message "B2O" was also scrawled on the side of the automated ticketing machine on the D933.
In Hadamar, Germany, vigilantes on Tuesday hopped onto a wall and smashed a traffic camera with a rock. The device had been issuing tickets on Kapellenstrasse in Niederzeuzheim, local police reported. In Neu-Ulm, vigilantes used red paint on Tuesday to disable a pair of speed cameras. Officials have no idea who might be responsible.
Vigilantes struck again in Belluno, Italy last Tuesday. Black paint had been used to cover the lens of the automated ticketing machine on the Via Marsiga last month, but this time red paint was used, according to Corriere delle Alpi.
In Spotorno, Italy, a high-ranking police officer was sentenced to prison last Wednesday for taking a bribe from the head of a speed camera company. The illicit transaction between police commander Andrea Saroldi and Igea srl head Claudio Ghizzoni had been captured on video as part of an Italian National Police sting operation known as "Hot Velox." Saroldi took a plea bargain last year and will serve 34 months in prison. Ghizzoni will spend four years behind bars.