Outraged by Cameras replacing Police

Where does the line get drawn!

This passed month I went home to visit my fam in Va from Philly.  It's not often that I get mail from the fam, more the casual call, but just yesterday I received some mail.  All so thrilled I was; maybe a card from by lil bro or an insert from last weeks church service from my mother. And none of which to find other than a ticket!

Ticket, wtf!? Where from? What for?

Of course the pictures revealing my car and license plate didn't give it away but better yet the title that said, "Citation: Work Zone Speed Monitoring System: Transportation Article SS21-810"
Good lord what have I gotten myself into.  So this program sets up speeding cameras throughout the Maryland region in work zone areas where the speed limit is marked at least over 45mph. And they even put up a signs to say speed photo enforced; work zone.

Well I guess at 11pm when the work zone isn't a work zone they still count it as a work zone, haha.

Jeeze there's no excuse I suppose.  It definitely caught me going 12mph over the speed limit and that just happens to be the lowest denominator for this Citation to apply. Why not 13mph. Give me a break. So I pay the $40 fine which i found goes to cover the cost of implementing this pilot program and then any profit exceeding 10% will go to the states cash reserves for other projects.

As I pondered of the program and its implications I figured there was a good part in the thought that the speed cameras protect workers in a work area by forcing a mandated speed limit.

But at the same time I couldn't help to see all the bad in such a piece of state legislation.  It seems that while the politics present it as a public safety piece of legislation I can't believe we're allowing such an expansion of a surveillance system that the government has only grown throughout the country. Now some may say its for the greater good to have cameras everywhere but it is drawing the line on infringing on our personal privacy where the constitution would favor the people.

Now where are the police in all of this. O, yeah at the bottom of my Citation the signature of a police officer who had to certify and approve that my motor vehicle was operated in violation of .........

Why are the police not on the scene writing the tickets themselves, controlling order and protecting the people. Doing their job we might say.  I'm not going to say they're too lazy to do their own jobs, but I will say its way easier signing a sheet of proven guiltiness, with no sense of innocent before proven guilty to deal with.  Or could it be that we don't have enough police due to budgetary measures?  And if the lack of a police force was because there's no money than why might you think they are implementing this system?  So the "It's for the greater good" idea covers not only the surveillance of Americans but also the right to profit.? Come On!  So I question whether it has become the goal of our police force to be a For Profit Business to generate wealth not only for their departments but also for the State.  If so, it will only be time till this monitoring system will be everywhere.  States will push legislation through for later installation of this system on any roads with any speed limits, used to catch litterers, or cellphone drivers, or morning make-up drivers.

Where would the line be drawn on the implications of such a program?  Do we trust these machines to always be accurate and not be used to the advantage of the police for profit making purposes?  Can we trust that government wont use these cameras to track its own citizens for "national security" reasons?

Or should the system just be repealed and force the police to ticket us once again the old fashion way!