I don't know about your community, but in Norman, Oklahoma, the police force gets a little more invasive every day. Unmarked traffic patrol cars, traffic surveillance cameras and road blocks are all a part of life. I've started analyzing what the community actually benefits by having unmarked patrol cars, and the conclusion that I've reached is that we might as well just have another tax. For all the privacy we give up, revenue is the only real benefit that the community receives.
I'm starting a campaign to end unmarked police cars in Norman. The city of Norman has decided that they would rather have money than safer streets. The unmarked police cars we have in Norman REV THEIR ENGINES AT LIGHTS, encouraging unsafe behavior - and ticket the victims that fall prey to their entrapment. More unmarked cars on the streets mean less police visibility and a lower feeling of protection - while at the same time, instilling a fear of "always being watched".
Undercover investigator asks various police departments for complaint forms. The man was harassed and denied the forms, and even arrested in one police department.
In 2005, the city of Minneapolis began using red-light cameras. Red light cameras are positioned at stop lights to take pictures of the license plates of vehicles that run the red light.
The city mailed out fines to the car owners, and required the owners to sign the form and return it with a $142 fine, or face an arrest warrant. Many car owners were outraged when they recieved their ticket in the mail, claiming that they were not driving the car at the time of the infraction.