Speed Cameras Vandalized

Two speed cameras in southwest Baltimore County were the latest of the devices targeted by vandals, according to police officials.

On Sunday morning, the box housing the speed camera near Catonsville High School on South Rolling Road was . According to police spokesperson Elise Armacost, footprints on the speed camera box indicate that it had also been kicked.

The camera itself had been removed for the night and was not damaged, police said.

By Monday morning, the spray paint had been removed and the speed camera was operational, according to police.

At around 7 a.m. on Monday morning, the speed camera near Arbutus Elementary School on the 1200 block of Sulphur Spring Road was similarly defaced with spray paint, police said.

According to Armacost, the flash mechanism of the Sulphur Spring Road speed camera had been knocked off the pole, and an expletive was spray painted on the sidewalk.

The Sulphur Spring Road speed camera was also operational by mid-day Monday, police said.

Police have no suspects in the vandalism, and have not determined whether the incidents are linked.

"We don't know whether they are related," Armacost said. "It is something officers are looking into."

The speed cameras are owned by ACS State and Local Solutions, which is reponsible for the costs of maintenance and repairs, Armacost said.

Baltimore County for about $11,995 per camera per month.

Twenty-two speed cameras are located near schools in Baltimore County, according to the police department's speed camera web page.

Several speed cameras have been damaged or destroyed since the program of automated enforcement began about two years ago.

In one incident, located in the 7400 block of North Point Road near Sparrows Point High School was spray painted. The  on another camera, located in the 9800 block of Greenside Drive near Padonia Elementary School.

In April, the speed camera on South Rolling Road was .

Last October, an with uprooting a the speed camera near Sparrows Point High School by hooking a pickup truck to the pole with a chain or rope.

The speed camera, which had been slated for removal and was inoperative, was dragged through an athletic field, according to police.

Brian Lee Roff, 18, of the 8100 block of Dogwood Road, Sparrows Point, was charged with malicious destruction of property valued at more than $500 and trespassing on school grounds. 

Two 17-year-olds, who were students at , were charged with theft and destruction of property, police said.

All three were subsequently convicted of misdemeanor charges, according to police.

Armacost said that the vandalism does not reflect a serious problem with the speed camera program.

"This is not an epidemic," she said. "In the scope of what we deal with in the county, this is not the most serious. Nonetheless, it is a crime to deface property. If we discover who did it, these people will be charged."

Ron Cassie, Bryan Sears and Penny Riordan contributed to this report.