There’s a new sheriff in the O-town, and it’s name is I.R.I.S.

The Innovative Response to Improve Safety (IRIS) camera was put to stunning use today when it discovered a citizen smoking marijuana on the side of the road.

The IRIS camera system looks to have cost the city about $1.3 million. In truth, all I could find was a blog about it, so who knows if that’s true.

It’s interesting to note that the city has a webpage touting the camera system, complete with statistics on how successful it is reducing crime, but amidst all those stats there is nothing about the cost of this surveillance system. (Also, the font is so small that any person without 20/20 vision will have trouble reading it.)

Back to the arrest. The IRIS camera, which was being operated by a policeman, viewed 3 men smoking marijuana on a street corner. Since they couldn’t see it in person or smell it, how did they know it was marijuana? Nevermind–cops were then sent to spot and one man, Joe E. Haywood, was arrested. (Read the first link above for the rest of the arrest story.)

It goes without saying that Mr. Haywood would have been better off smoking inside instead of out on the street (after all, these are the streets of Orlando, not San Diego), but this raises all sorts of questions about the rights of U.S. citizens. If police do their policing through a camera, is that okay?

Also let’s talk about the name of this camera system. The Innovative Response to Improve Safety. “Innovative response?” What’s so innovative about a surveillance camera system?

*Initially the system was called the Intrusive Recording of Incriminations through Surveillance (IRIS), but the publicists for the police department thought it was too literal and too overbearing, so they came up with Innovative Response to Improve Safety. That name–though misleading–sounds better from a P.R. point of view.

So, citizens of Orlando, you can rest easy tonight knowing that the streets are a little safer tonight as marijuana smoker Joe E. Haywood has been put behind bars.

What you shouldn’t be resting so easy about is the Bullshit IRIS camera watching you come and go on a daily basis.

*Not true.