This work proposes surveillance trajectories for a network of active (pan-tilt-zoom) cameras to detect intruders. We consider smart intruders, which appear at arbitrary times and locations, are aware of the cameras configuration, and move to avoid detection for as long as possible. As performance criteria we consider the worst-case detection time and the average detection time. We focus on the case of a chain of cameras, and we obtain the following results. First, we characterize a lower bound on the worst-case and on the average detection time of smart intruders. Second, we propose a team trajectory for the cameras, namely Equal-waiting trajectory, with minimum worst-case detection time and with guarantees on the average detection time. Third, we design a distributed algorithm to coordinate the cameras along an Equal-waiting trajectory. Fourth, we design a distributed algorithm for cameras reconfiguration in the case of failure or network change. Finally, we illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of our algorithms via simulations and experiments on a camera network testbed.