Escalation...

You see this is what I mean. A couple of years ago Houston's Police Chief's idea to put surveillance cameras in private areas would have instantly been dismissed as the most retarded idea a police chief has ever come up with. But now because of familiar rationalizations like "...if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?" this man's idea is actually being taken seriously.

Houston eyes cameras at apartment complexes
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Police_Cameras.html