^{Category: Law Enforcement, Crime, and Punishment | War on Terror}

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Dillingham, Alaska (population 2,400) may be too small for street lights, but it isn't too small for 80 Motobix-brand security cameras--courtesy of a $202,000 Homeland Security grant. Now the small fishing town is being turned into its own private reality show in the name of fighting crime and terrorism, and local residents aren't crazy about the idea. Quoth the Anchorage Daily News:

A quiet city like Dillingham, without a single street light and more wildlife than humans, doesn't need one camera for every 30 residents, Tim Smeekins said.

"There are no jihadist sockeyes swimming into our bay, no militant moose, no bomb-bearing belugas," he said.

He and others hope to put the question of removing the cameras on the ballot this fall. More than 200 area residents have signed an informal petition demanding the cameras come down, Smeekins said.

If the same ratio--one camera for every 30 residents--were kept in other American cities, there would be about 14,000 cameras installed in Atlanta, 125,000 in Los Angeles, and 270,000 in New York City. Or, to put things in perspective, ten million cameras installed nationwide.

Say cheese!

(Hat tip to Kathy Gill.)