Camera-Shy Tourists

The City of Santa Monica is enhancing security measures at the Santa Monica Pier after receiving a series of photographs taken over the July 4 weekend by an observant private citizen:

The photographs show three men videotaping around the pier, [Santa Monica Police Chief James] Butts said. The photographer snapped the pictures after noticing that the men -- who were of “Middle Eastern descent” -- were not posing in their own videos.

“Ordinarily when you are vacationing and videotaping to document a vacation you have one or more of the subjects in the picture,” Butts said.

The photographs were not submitted to the police until three weeks later; however, security officials believe that these same individuals were later stopped for suspicious behavior in another nearby area, and a videotape was confiscated. [Hat tip: Winds of Change]