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Officers monitoring traffic cameras a waste
The Gazette Opinion Staff
Jul. 12, 2010 12:29 am
The cameras that are now being installed at various busy street intersections within Cedar Rapids are a super idea. But it isn't being carried far enough. Here are a few more possibilities for their use:
1. Place them in all restaurants and public restrooms. Just think of the revenue our leaders could collect from waiters and waitresses who don't wash their hands.
2. Keep an eye on dogs who use fire hydrants. Their owners should pay a usage fee.
3. And, let's not forget that great group of elderly, retired mall walkers. They could be photographed, registered and then required to pay for the privilege of running around in circles.
But seriously, there is a situation that concerns me. We have been told that these cameras would cost the city nothing. The police officers who monitor these cameras are not working for nothing. They would probably prefer to do what they have been professionally trained for, which is pursuing and jailing the criminals among us.
Many men and women of Cedar Rapids and vicinity have recently lost their jobs. Couldn't they be trained to monitor the cameras, maybe at the prevailing minimum wage?
There will come a day when the people of our fair city will realize that these peek-a-boo cameras present a definite danger to driving.
Herbert Maynard
Cedar Rapids
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