As we’ve seen time and time again, many police officers have a strong objection to being recorded. We’re guessing the St. Clair County (IL) Sheriff’s Department doesn’t share those sentiments, though.

Last week they rolled out their latest weapon in the war against crime: a 12,000-pound armored vehicle equipped with video cameras, digital recorders and live video streaming computers.

‘The Exterminator’ will be parked in front of suspects’ homes and video from the four cameras is streamed live to computers at the Sheriff’s Department. Investigators can even see live video on their smart phones.

This is the anti-undercover vehicle. Its hulking presence is meant to intimidate and unsettle. As the police say:

“We will not tolerate drug trafficking, littered lawns, loud noise and other neighborhood nuisances. If you can’t live peacefully with your neighbors – we will send “The Exterminator!””

And The Exterminator can’t see into people’s homes or record audio; it can only capture what it going on on the public streets. Police say there are no privacy concerns since it’s the same thing as if an officer were on patrol outside your house. (And the vehicle was donated, not paid for by taxpayers.)

So what do you think — ingenious crime-fighting tool, or Big Brother-esque drone that’ll just re-locate criminals?

Source: The Exterminator and KMOV