And so on, Ad Infinitum

You may have seen streets that have speed cameras installed to monitor how fast people drive down them. They replace the black-and-whites that hang out there with a radar gun primed to nail J. Random Speeder when he or she commits the act of too-rapid transportation.

The speed cameras, of course, can catch every speeder on a stretch of road, while John Law only nails a couple of them. He or she has to fire up the squad car and pursue the miscreant, pull them over and write them a ticket. While that's going on, drivers can sneak past at a pretty good clip. The cameras just record the violators, get plate numbers and then the ticket shows up in the mail.

But since the cameras are unmanned, they lack the ability to guard themselves that an armed officer possesses. Which means they can be vandalized, stolen or even destroyed. So Prince George's County in Maryland has come up with a solution: They will install cameras that will watch the speed cameras.

Yes. There will be cameras which have as their task the monitoring of other cameras. A law enforcement official explained that the traffic cameras cost in the low-to-mid six figures and so replacing them or repairing them too often drains the county treasury. The cameras which monitor them are much less sophisticated -- no one cares how fast the vandals are driving -- and so the expense is considered worth it.

The official in question is the Commander of the Automated Enforcement Section (one hopes the cameras are better at taking orders than they are at protecting themselves), who has as his job the monitoring the cameras and their work. No word as to whether or not an Officer Murphy is among those under his command.

(H/T Yeah Right)