Among the week’s big D.C. stories is the effort by the District to put together a network of anti-crime cameras that’ll be routinely monitored.

How many such cameras?

5,000.

Most of them will be monitored by the District’s own emergency-response office. The story, first reported in the Washington Times, hit the front page of the Washington Post this morning, topped off by the following quote by At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who in one short sentence exhibits a masterful understanding of why law-enforcement loves security monitors.

“We don’t want the camera swooping in on a cute girl in a short skirt,” Mendo told the Post.