In the Spirit of the Lost Liberty Hotel

Last week, the Associated Press reports, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt "proposed placing surveillance cameras in apartment complexes, downtown streets, shopping malls and even private homes to fight crime during a shortage of police officers." His response to critics: "I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?"

Why indeed? My friend Matt Asher has established the Hurtt Prize: a reward "for the first person who can provide definitive videotaped evidence of Houston police chief Harold Hurtt committing a crime, any crime. This evidence will posted here and forward to the Houston Police Department along with a demand that action be taken." Matt has put up $1000 of his own money towards the award, and is soliciting pledges to increase the size of the pot.