Beijing deploys USD 124,000 surveillance van to stop spitting

Interfax China
Mar. 07, 2006

Beijing police have deployed a RMB 1 mln (USD 124,400) high-tech surveillance van in an effort to punish people for spitting on the street, according to local media reports.

The vehicle has three video cameras, including a central camera that can be raised four meters into the air like a periscope, rotate 355 degrees, and spot someone spitting 250 meters away. The vehicle also has an infrared camera and a high power searchlight for use at night, the Beijing News reported.

As part of the city's Olympic preparation plans, the local government has been working to eliminate bad behavior and improve urban cleanliness. Eliminating spitting on streets and in public vehicles is a top priority.

The police have plans to take advantage of the vehicle's satellite transmission capability. In the meantime, officers will have to make due with observing wrongdoers on the large plasma-screen display mounted inside the van.

Spitting scofflaws have often gone unpunished due to lack of evidence, which makes the vehicle's video capability essential in tracing the glob of phlegm on the ground back to the criminal who hacked it up.

In one day, the van caught nine people spitting, each of whom were fined RMB 20 (USD 2.50). One man was forced to clean up his spit in addition to the fine.

At this rate, the van will pay for itself in a little over 15 years.