Sorry for the long post but the original links to these stories appear to be dead so I copied the text from another site. Two incidents from 2003 that took place where I live:
12 September 2003, Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Strip traffic camera zooms in on bar-goers; State trooper spokesman says investigation ongoing, by Jon Gargis.
The traffic camera featured on Comcast Cable’s Channel 45 was showing more than just traffic early Friday – it was following people on the Strip. The Crimson White learned at about 1:45 a.m. Friday that the traffic camera at the intersection of University Boulevard and Reed Street, which usually remains stationary, was panning, tilting and zooming in on people and objects along the Strip. The Strip camera operator(s) manipulated the camera to zoom in on several college-aged women’s breasts and buttocks as they walked down the street. The operator(s) also captured a group of young men who had spotted the camera’s movement and were making various gestures and movements.
Joe Robinson, transportation director and city engineer for the Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation, said the manipulated camera was controlled by someone from the Alabama State Troopers Office. “We don’t condone that at the city, and we should think that neither would the State Troopers Office,” Robinson said.
Trooper Chris Ellis, public information officer for the Alabama State Troopers Office, said Friday afternoon the department was still investigating and was not ready to release an official statement concerning the situation.
While Channel 45 usually shows an Alabama weather map for a few seconds and switches to various traffic cameras across the county for a few seconds at a time, the channel only showed the view of the University Boulevard and Reed Street intersection’s camera. The instrumental music that usually plays on the channel was also absent during the broadcast of the Strip-focused camera.
Robinson said a number of agencies in addition to the Alabama State Troopers Office have camera control centers across the city and have access to the traffic cameras. The agencies include the Tuscaloosa DOT, the Alabama DOT, Tuscaloosa Police Department and Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management. He added that the University of Alabama Police Department would have access to some of the cameras in the near future. Robinson said all control centers have access to all the cameras, but the Tuscaloosa DOT was removing access to some of the cameras at some of the locations.
Jon Howell, traffic systems manager for Tuscaloosa, added that though all control centers have access, the camera system logs all cameras’ movements and tracks where the camera commands originate. Howell said it was unknown Friday afternoon if an inadvertent keystroke was the cause of putting the camera’s view as the sole video on the channel or if the act was intentional. “We can tell where [the commands] came from, but right now we don’t believe this act was an intentional override to put [the camera’s view] on the channel,” Howell said.
Howell and Robinson said they were made aware of the problem by the Tuscaloosa Police Department at 3:30 a.m. They said they were told the camera movement began after 3 a.m. and lasted until 4 or 4:30 a.m. They added they were unaware Friday afternoon of any camera manipulation before 3 a.m.
The CW discovered that Channel 45 had been taken off the air sometime Friday afternoon. It was still off at 11 p.m. Friday.
Robinson said actions could be taken against agencies that allow misuse of the cameras to happen. “We’re concerned that this does not happen again,” he said.
15 September 2003, Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Three Arrested After Traffic Camera Aimed as Passersby, The Associated Press.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) – Images from a traffic camera that was used instead to monitor passersby near the University of Alabama led to the arrests of three people allegedly misbehaving on the street, police said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, officials said they were still investigating who had diverted the focus of the camera from traffic – where it normally is used to monitor vehicles – to pedestrians, particularly young women. The remote-control camera, located at an intersection near a row of nightclubs, usually shows traffic. But officials said someone in a state trooper office diverted the camera to focus on pedestrians in the pre-dawn hours last Friday. Footage broadcast citywide on a cable TV channel showed several people, and the camera zoomed in on the breasts and buttocks of several young women walking past.
A 22-year-old woman was charged with public lewdness about 4:10 a.m. after baring her breasts in front of the [obviously visible] camera, said Capt. David Hartin, and a 25-year-old man was charged with disorderly conduct moments later after allegedly grabbing his crotch as cars went by. A 28-year-old man was accused of public intoxication and resisting arrest after dancing in the street along a row of bars called “the strip,” said Hartin. Hartin said the three were arrested after an officer on dinner break saw images from the camera on TV and notified headquarters, which sent officers to the area.
Chris Ellis, a spokesman for the state trooper office in Tuscaloosa, said the camera was being used for surveillance after a report that a man had exposed himself. “Our officer was absolutely not inappropriately following young women,” Ellis said. “The trooper was using the camera to monitor traffic and some type of criminal activity.” Ellis, who refused to identify the trooper, said no disciplinary action was planned.
But Joe Robinson, director of the city transportation department, said he was frustrated and angry over what he saw as the misuse of the camera, one of 31 traffic monitors in Tuscaloosa. “This certainly is not what our cameras were intended for,” Robinson said. “We have worked long and hard to get this program up and going and get it to the public for information purposes.”
The city has disabled troopers’ ability to control the cameras, he said. Bryan Fair, a professor of constitutional law at Alabama, said the incident appeared to have more to do with the misuse of government property than civil liberties. “Clearly, that camera wasn’t designed to zero in on young coeds,” he said. “If it is for traffic purposes, then it should be used as such and not for the self-gratification of a trooper.”