The Ohio Department of Transportation dusted off 15 of its snow plows in July and deployed them around the Republican National Convention in Cleveland — and it turns out they were doing double duty.
ODOT made no secret of the fact that they planned to have snow plows at the ready during the four day convention in order to quickly remove road debris or help to clear any crashes that might occur.
But ODOT had another motive for deploying its snow plows in the middle of the summer. Unbeknownst to most people on the road, those 15 snow plows were equipped with live cameras. Police were using the live feed to keep a low-key eye out for anti-Trump protesters blocking the highway.
ODOT has installed cameras in 184 trucks throughout the state so that supervisors can see actual road conditions and adjust their maintenance plans accordingly.
Cleveland ingenuity to stop trucks from driving through at the RNC. Snow plows in July! pic.twitter.com/bNWGaRUoni
— Kathryn C Lavelle (@kathrynlavelle) July 19, 2016