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Red light cameras rackets for private companies Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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State fights red-light cameras
Brandi Grissom
Austin Bureau
AUSTIN -- Despite vehement objections from many lawmakers who may try again to stop them, El Paso and other Texas cities are putting up cameras that will catch and ticket red-light runners even when police aren't around.
"The whole goal we're looking at is to reduce accidents and to save lives," Mayor John Cook said.
By a vote of 5-3, the El Paso City Council this month approved installing cameras that will photograph red-light runners in the act and allow the city to mail them citations. Houston is about to start its own similar program, the city of Garland in North Texas has one, and a number of other cities are preparing to use the cameras.
Proponents said the cameras reduce accidents at intersections and leave police officers more time to pursue serious crime.
However, lawmakers who have been trying for years to ban the cameras said that the programs are moneymaking rackets for cities and the private companies that operate them, that they violate drivers' privacy, and that they may actually cause more accidents.
Police records show red-light running is increasing in El Paso. In 2004, police wrote 7,713 red-light tickets. They gave out 5,661 in 2001.
El Paso police will soon request proposals for a private company to operate cameras at about 10 busy intersections, police spokesman Javier Sambrano said.
Teresa Pollock, who works with the Safe Light program in Garland, said the city has seen a 100 percent reduction in fatal accidents at the five intersections where cameras were installed in 2003. All accidents dropped by 50 percent, she said.
In Houston, red-light runners cause about 4,700 accidents each year, police department spokesman Lt. Robert Manzo said.
Monday, Houston will begin a 30-day trial period for the 10 cameras it has installed. Red-light runners will receive warnings during that period, Manzo said. Then fines will go up to $75 for the first two offenses and $150 for the third.
He said that Houston officials noted legislators' displeasure with the red-light cameras and that they will require the camera operator to pay to remove the devices if lawmakers do eventually approve a ban.
"If it does happen, we'll just have to live with it," he said.
State Rep. Gary Elkins, R-Houston, this year filed a bill that would have banned red-light cameras. It won overwhelming support in the House on a vote of 113-23. But the Senate did not take up the legislation.
Many lawmakers have long opposed the cameras, but their ire was further stoked in 2003. After they voted down a bill that provided for civil tickets, the measure was tacked on to another piece of legislation that became law.
"They deceived all the members of the House," Elkins said. "That would never have passed if they'd been honest about it."
El Paso state Reps. Joe Pickett, Norma Chávez and Chente Quintanilla voted for the ban.
"Red-light cameras is a method by which cities really generate revenue," Quintanilla said. "I really believe that individuals that implement them do not do it with sole purpose of preventing accidents."
Since 2003, Garland has taken in more than $2.5 million in fines, Pollock said. Garland pays about $28,000 a month to ACS State and Local Solutions, which operates the cameras. The rest of the money goes into a public safety fund, she said.
Mayor Cook said the City Council has not yet decided what to do with revenue generated by the $75 fines from red-light runners. "I'd like to see them used for other traffic control issues," he said.
He said the purpose of the cameras is to save lives, not to generate revenue for the city.
But Quintanilla said lawmakers don't buy that reasoning and will probably try again to pass the ban.
If lawmakers succeed when the Legislature reconvenes in 2007, Cook said, El Paso would not lose money. The contractor that operates the cameras would foot the bill, he said.
But he said he hopes that doesn't happen. "I think anybody who has lost somebody at an intersection ... would probably be very supportive of using this technology to provide a safer environment for everyone," he said.
Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com; (512)479-6606.
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