In an effort to spot and stop stolen cars on the streets of Paradise Valley, Arizona, the local police department has been putting up license plate readers, hiding them at the top of fake cactus.

Fox News says it asked town manager Kevin Burke for an explanation of the secrecy surrounding the installation, but he denied it, explaining that the cameras aren’t even active.

Citizens’ privacy-related questions will be addressed, he said, “again, not trying to hide anything, the police department, this was my request of before we get going at these one at a time, lets get them all together and make sure we understand and everybody is on the same page.”

Apparently, hiding tech stuff in cactus is nothing new in the town, as it’s also home to several cell towers that have also been disguised in a similar fashion.

What are your thoughts on this: good, bad or just plain silly?

Video