Surveillance costs money!

I spend a lot of time talking about how the government wastes money.  Today will be no exception.  Every time I see a traffic light camera I can’t help but wonder how much this all costs.  Surely if my local government can afford to put up all of these expensive cameras, they can repair the roads and fund the schools.  Our nation is flat broke ,and several states and municipalities are also tapped out.  It would make more sense to remove and sell these surveillance cameras.  If we want to balance the budget and get rid of unnecessary expenditures, these cameras are a good start.

Not only are red light cameras and the like unconstitutional, they are also a waste of resources.  It is expensive enough to investigate actual crimes, but to record everyone all the time is extremely cost prohibitive.  In accordance with the 4th amendment, all searches to include electronic surveillance should only be used in the case of probable cause, or a reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed.  In Virginia Beach traffic cameras stream data all the time.  This indicates that our local government assumes any driver, or passenger going through an intersection are potential criminals.  I don’t know about you but that assumption seems unreasonable to me.  Not only do these cameras cost too much, they are a blatant violation of our constitutional, and basic human rights.