Surveillance Society....
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I live in a village in the middle of nowhere in Suffolk.

A few days ago I noticed a strange (but inconspicuous) black box on a street sign pole outside my house



Secured with lots of padlocks...

Today I "caught" the person taking it back down



We spoke at length (nearly 1/2hr).... It's a covert speed measuring device, similar to the two rubber tubes you occasionally see deployed across the road, but much more covert.

Apparently "just to collect data" - but to allow Police to target areas with proper photographic devices (never a real Police officer of course)....

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm totally against speeding in innapropriate places, villages etc, and fully support the prosecution of those who do.... but, in rural areas around here I see much more dangerous things (dangerous overtaking of farm vehicles, use of moble phones just to mention the obvious two) but I never see a Police Officer... ever....

The covert black boxes are obviously cheaper and (when followed by the hidden camera) generate much more revenue.

BTW, the reason the back of his van says "Speed Indicator Display" is because most of his job is putting up the "Smiley" displays, the big temporay ones that tell you your actual speed in big numbers, but he told me he has been deploying more and more of these covert ones recently. Apparently they only cost about £2k and can collect a weeks worth of data from the installed battery.

Rant over.....

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

In a village near where I live, there is one of those nice digital signs that tells you how fast your are going. unfortunaly they've put it up about 20 yards before a right turn junction.

I would guess that the rate of rear shunts on that junction has trippled sinse that went up. It's nothing more than an expensive distraction.

They would have been better of with a big sign that said 'Look where you're going!'

EDIT: Typo...
EDIT2: Damn my english is poor today!

Edited by apbellamy on 19th Aug, 2009.

Break out the Axe's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Own the day

tyre and petrol. job done...

A source of ignition would also be required.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

They are welcome to come to this village and catch the arseholes who speed through the narrow streets here.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

Now I feel torn

Own the day

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

It's all down to cost. Real policing is expensive, so gets deployed to deal with crime in the towns nearby because it affects a larger number of people. Rural areas are largely ignored.

Speaking as the man who ends up scraping the dead cats of the road, speeding is a major issue to me.

Trouble is that 30mph is too fast through here. But it would take dead child to get anything done about it.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

Overtaking in a double white line zone. Combating that is easy all they have to do is set the camera to 1mph and aim it at the corresponding bit of road and reverse the triggering protocols! Job done.

Edited by Mr Joshua on 19th Aug, 2009.

Own the day

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

There seems to be a misconception that putting in lower speed limits will somehow reduce accidents.The drivers who speed dont much care about the limit, only whether they are likely to be caught.As already said, it cost a lot to put a police patrol car in place, but the capital cost of a camera is recouped in days but does nothing to combat the hazards of bad driving unless they exceed the limit set.Cameras have no discretion, but a good copper has.

they put the two black tubes thing on our street, this is a very posh area, one of the "well to do" old chaps got out his car, snapped off a twig on a nearby tree, and twisted it through the tube so it couldnt measure speed, only number of cars.

ammused me. all for catching criminals, but doing covert survelance to highlight a high revenue speeding hotspot is rediculus.

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

IF you seem them, accidently break to hard and skid over them. If your unlucky you'll snap the wires

That said, as I was cruising up the M1 yesterday morning minding my own business, I noticed a police range rover parked on a ramp of the hard sholder with his speed camera out of the window. Naughty boy!

To use those you are supposed to be stood up outside your car and not be on a motorway without restriction (i.e. no roadworks etc). Trying for some easy fines I'll bet from the poor sods who know no better. Wonder how his range rover gets paid for??

Edited by apbellamy on 19th Aug, 2009.

one more step closer to a big brother society ...........STATE new world order..... IMO these need destroying.

you wont be able to take a piss soon without anyone knowing

i hope they have a wide angle lense

poetic

the fish in the stream will now get arrested for defocating in public

Geoff