If you’re new to Seattle, you must first know that Medina is where Bill and Melinda Gates live. As the Seattle Times points out, the tiny hamlet of almost 3,200 souls has an average annual income of $222,000. But it turns out that crime is tough all over.

Last year, the number of burglaries almost doubled from the year before, from six to eleven, and the city council approved installing surveillance cameras that record the license plates of anyone who drives through town. The results are then sent off to a database. Police check for stolen cars or outstanding warrants for arrest.

A city council member named Lucius Biglow is quoted in the Times saying crime prevention “outweighs concern over privacy.” I have to admit that the August police blotter looks just crammed with crime. And who knows, maybe it will help keep more Medina police officers from being accused of sexual assault.

But the last word on this, as is true in nearly all cases, comes from the comments section of Seattlepi.com: “It’s a start, but lasers that melt poor people would be more comforting for my family and I.”