Monday, November 12, 2018

Creepy cameras removed in downtown Bethesda

Surveillance camera at the "apartment building
for homeless people" on Cordell Avenue, and others,
vanished this weekend after my report on them
last Friday was published
All of the creepy surveillance cameras that appeared in downtown Bethesda immediately following the Montgomery County election last week appear to have been removed this weekend. I've heard from readers that some of these cameras have appeared at other random locations in greater Bethesda, and even as far away as Wheaton.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Probably removed because their assigned task was complete - conducting traffic counts for the roads next to which they were installed.

Robert Dyer said...

5:32: Rubber strips across the road can give you a traffic count. Whoever put those up was clearly seeking more than traffic counts.

Anonymous said...

As far away as Wheaton?? Good Lord, you'd need a passport to report on that!

Anonymous said...

Rubber strips alone can't analyze turning traffic, among other things. That's why multiple cameras were posted at intersections, whereas straightaways only got one camera each.

Robert Dyer said...

Why the secrecy?

Anonymous said...

"Secrecy", or you just haven't bothered to contact live people to find out what it's about?

Anonymous said...

These are quite common in the traffic analysis industry. Our firm has untilized consultants who use these so they don’t have to manually count turning traffic. They are also more accurate than pneumatic strips that can be confused by multi-axel semi- truck traffic.

Anonymous said...

Shift change in about 15 minutes...

Roald said...

I love these reports and what Dyer is doing for Bethesda!

Robert Dyer said...

5:54: You apparently didn't even bother to read my original article, linked to in this report, in which I interviewed someone from the camera contractor. A story I broke, by the way.

6:02: "Wrol Evans" will take over getting Hans Riemer's coffee and dry cleaning from you then? Thanks for the update.

Woodmont said...

6:13 AM comment is written by a man whose personal style is best described as "sloppy khakis"

Anonymous said...

SHIFT CHANGE!

Robert Dyer said...

6:41: Punch yourself.

Anonymous said...

It's not a secret. Most people think traffic studies are pretty boring so they don't make news generally. And cameras give a much more accurate picture of what's happening--what kind of vehicles, size of vehicles, traffic patterns and habits of vehicles, different things rolling at different times of day or days of week, who's hopping curbs during turns, how fast most people are going, how many times the same vehicles circle looking for parking, etc.--than rubber strips. It's just 2018, man. Nothing more.

Anonymous said...

I think part of the concern was that the cameras were adjacent to or across the street from residential buildings.

Anonymous said...

9:19 AM Please go back to playing journalist and stop trolling here

Anonymous said...

12:00 PM If you can't see the cameras from the office window, then you know, it didn't happen.

Anna said...

All this brouhaha over a traffic study camera? Pshaw.
Hennypennying.

Robert Dyer said...

3:58: Can you explain why every comment you post is negative, or do you just want to admit to being a troll and cyberbully?

I understand your frustration, and others', that everyone was scooped by me on the surveillance cameras. And that the public attention my article brought may have preserved some privacy for residents with their hasty removal.

Anna said...

It just ticks you off that I can see through your BS.

Anna said...

This fascinates me, the idea that someone would post something accessible to the whole wide world and then get upset that the public might be reading it and disagree.

It's a traffic camera...in place for a specific amount of time. You have no real info that it is being used for any other purpose. None. Zero. Zilch.