Cameras in the burbs

Mark Godsey at Crimprof blog has this item on camera surveillance in a Chicago suburb. Too bad the quoted Mayor isn't a Grits reader or he'd know that cameras don't reduce crime. It probably wouldn't matter, though. Despite claims of aiming to be "crime free," the more immediate described use is to implement an electronic trap for speeders to pay for the system; it sounds like the locals see the cameras as a cash cow. As in Dallas, businesses are linking in with their own cameras, and presumably also getting access to camera data.