Watchful eye sponsored by . . . the people of Flint

The police department in Flint, Michigan could use a little extra cash to cover 14 new surveillance cameras. So the city’s come up with a plan to pay for the new installments: Adopt-a-camera! For $30,000, you or your business can have your name emblazoned on the side of a mounted box that will watch you scratch your nose when you think no one’s looking. So far, the city says no one’s taken them up on the offer.

What issues could this possibly raise? John Chamberlin, chair of the Michigan chapter of Common Cause, was worried that “poorer sections of the city may get less coverage than wealthier parts.”