Chicago Red light cameras tag thousands for undeserved tickets

[Brandon]

Behind Chicago Tribune Paywall,

Red light cameras tag thousands for undeserved tickets

Thousands of Chicago drivers have been tagged with $100 red light fines they did not deserve, targeted by robotic cameras during a series of sudden spikes in tickets that city officials say they cannot explain, a Tribune investigation has found.

The Tribune's analysis of more than 4 million tickets issued since 2007 and a deeper probe of individual cases revealed clear evidence that the deviations in Chicago's network of 380 cameras were caused by faulty equipment, human tinkering or both.

A 10-month Tribune investigation documented more than 13,000 questionable tickets at 12 intersections that experienced the most striking spikes; similar patterns emerged at dozens of other intersections responsible for tens of thousands more tickets. Among the key findings:

Cameras that for years generated just a few tickets daily suddenly caught dozens of drivers a day. One camera near the United Center rocketed from generating one ticket per day to 56 per day for a two-week period last summer before mysteriously dropping back to normal.

Tickets for so-called rolling right turns on red shot up during some of the most dramatic spikes, suggesting an unannounced change in enforcement. One North Side camera generated only a dozen tickets for rolling rights out of 100 total tickets in the entire second half of 2011. Then, over a 12-day spike, it spewed 563 tickets – 560 of them for rolling rights.

Many of the spikes were marked by periods immediately before or after when no tickets were issued – downtimes suggesting human intervention that should have been documented. City officials said they cannot explain the absence of such records.

The experts all said the available evidence leads them to only two possible explanations – that ticket procedures were quietly broadened to catch more violators, or that malfunctions led the system to wrongly tag lawful drivers. In either case, they said, fail-safes that should have guarded against such anomalies didn't do their job.

Consistency and fairness are crucial to traffic enforcement because the goal is to make streets safer by changing driver behavior. Any sudden change in enforcement – either by design or by malfunction – undermines that goal, the experts said.

All the experts agreed that the city should consider refunds. Some said the city has an ethical obligation to drivers who were ticketed unfairly, even in those cases in which they were technically in violation of the law.

From April 29 to June 19, 2011, one of the two cameras at Wague's West Pullman intersection tagged drivers for 1,717 red light violations. That was more violations in 52 days than the camera captured in the previous year and a half.

Almost all of the tickets were for the same type of violation – right turns on red from the southbound lanes of Halsted onto 119th.

The same thing happened on the Far Northwest and North sides.

The camera at Lincoln Avenue and McCormick Road prompted 563 tickets during a 12-day period beginning Dec. 30, 2011 – more than all the tickets issued from that camera in the previous two years. The rate of tickets shot from less than one a day to 47 a day.

The camera at Western and Peterson avenues prompted 410 tickets during a 21-day stretch beginning Sept. 20, 2012, an average of 19.5 tickets per day, up from the typical 2.2 per day the previous two years.

On the Near West Side, the corner of North Ashland Avenue and West Madison Street generated 949 tickets in a 17-day period beginning June 23, 2013. That is a rate of about 56 tickets per day. In the previous two years, that camera on Ashland averaged 1.3 tickets per day.

All four spikes were accompanied by a period when the cameras went dark – two days before the surge at Halsted; immediately after the surge at Ashland; and both before and after the surges at Lincoln and Peterson.

All the experts interviewed agreed that a change in the camera system – not shifting driver patterns – is the most likely reason for the spikes. They all expressed surprise that such dramatic ticketing fluctuations in an automated system could go unnoticed and undocumented.

"I have never seen anything like this," said Richard Retting, a former senior transportation engineer for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and a longtime advocate for the safety benefits of red light cameras.

"Obviously, something very strange is happening during these unexplained and dramatic spikes, no question about it," said Retting, who was dubbed the "father of the red light camera" movement in a congressional report on red lights. "And I would think the system operator must have some record to explain them, especially since they seemed to end as abruptly as they began.

"There must be some record, some maintenance log, something somewhere," he said.

It's Chicago.  What's a maintenance record?

Since 2003, when Chicago first awarded the contract to Redflex, drivers who run red lights at up to 384 cameras are tagged by what is known as "magnetic induction loop" technology. Oddly, it doesn't determine whether you stop at a red light, but how fast you are going as you approach.

That's because under the law, the camera system has to capture you entering the intersection after the light is red. So the camera must start recording before any violation takes place. Rather than capture images of tens of millions of cars passing by legally, the system is designed to predict which vehicles are most likely to run the red light.

All of the experts, as well as Schmidt, said another explanation for these kinds of spikes would be shorter yellow light intervals. They said fractions of a second make a huge difference on violations, as drivers readjust to the shorter yellows.

Zavattero said the city has not tinkered with yellow lights, and that all of them meet state and federal standards that require at least three seconds on all yellows. He said any yellow light that falls out of whack and decreases its interval to 2.8 seconds automatically triggers the traffic system to a flashing red until it can be recalibrated.

But the yellow light interval during one of the most severe spikes fluctuated wildly, according to information extracted from a review of every ticket generated by the camera at 6200 N. Lincoln Ave. for more than a year.

For the 100 tickets issued in the six months before the spike, the yellow light interval at that intersection ranged from 4.03 to 4.08 seconds. In the 563 tickets issued during a 12-day spike there, yellow light intervals dropped to about three seconds during 406 of them, then bounced back and forth to more than four seconds intermittently during the others.

Experts agreed that a one-second shortening of a yellow light interval is more than enough to throw off drivers who go through the same intersection every day and set their mental clocks by the longer interval.

A firestorm erupted in Florida last year after news reports that state government officials had quietly approved shorter yellow lights at red light camera intersections, boosting ticket rates. Public outrage from the story prompted state officials to reverse course.

But some other spikes demonstrated dramatic increases in tickets for drivers making right turns on red. Consider the camera at 6200 N. Lincoln Ave.

An examination of 100 tickets generated by that camera in the six months prior to the spike shows that only 12 were issued to owners of vehicles making a right turn on red. The other 88 violations were written for owners of cars who went straight through the red light, the photographs show.

But during the 12-day spike of 563 tickets, all but three of the citations – more than 99 percent – went to owners of cars that turned right.

A dozen drivers who were tagged for rolling right turns at the 6200 N. Lincoln camera told the Tribune that drivers are forced to creep into the intersection because the cross street of McCormick merges at an angle.

"If you don't move out into the intersection, you can't see oncoming traffic at all," said Thomas Garrity, 73, a retired Chicago police sergeant who was ticketed during the spike that started Dec. 30, 2011.

Photographs and video of the alleged infraction show a bicyclist just feet from the front of his car when the camera recorded him, and Garrity said he can't imagine he didn't stop to avoid hitting the bike.

"They claimed I didn't stop, but I am pretty sure I did stop," he said. "I always make sure I stop, but no, I didn't bother to contest it. From my experience you might as well try to explain to them there are aliens.

"I know how this city works, and you just don't get a fair shake," he said.

And that's from a retired Chicago cop.

[Brandon]

But wait, there's more...

Tribune investigation raises doubts about red light cameras

Now an unprecedented Chicago Tribune investigation of 4 million tickets issued since 2007 shows that thousands of motorists were snared by cameras that recorded violations in wild and inexplicable spikes. Sometimes the cameras spewed out tickets at a breathtaking pace for weeks at a time before returning – just as inexplicably – to more normal levels.

Did motorists actually deserve the tickets? Or were they victimized by faulty equipment, human intervention or both?

Tribune reporters David Kidwell and Alex Richards discovered these alarming anomalies after an exhaustive computer analysis of millions of tickets from the city's 380 red light cameras that form the largest program of its kind in the United States. They also analyzed the appeal rates for traffic tickets generated by those cameras.

Yet along the way our reporters met with stiff resistance from city officials, who at first refused to release the red light records – public records to which you as citizens are entitled. The Tribune incurred significant legal expense before the city finally supplied these public records after six months of appeals. That's when Kidwell and Richards discovered the bizarre camera spikes.

And a way to find the spikes:

Were you caught in a red light camera ticket spike?

With graphs of  the most dramatic enforcement spikes.

[jeffandnicole]

Just wondering...in Illionis, when they mail you the ticket, is there a web addrss to review the video as well?  Or do they send you just a still shot of the car in the intersection?

Here in NJ they provide you with access to the video.  I've never gotten a ticket myself (knock on wood), but occasionally I'll overhear people that do.  And on a few occasions where someone has said they looked at the video, there was no question they never stopped. 

I've also heard some other people say that they went to court to fight it, only to be told that in the town they had to stop for 3 seconds, 5 seconds, etc.  Since the accused are generally amateurs at fighting anything in court, they hear what they are told from the judge or cop and believe it, while losing their case.  In NJ, there's no law within each town regarding stopping time, and the official state law is simply that you must come to a complete stop.  If the victims were aware of the actual law, they could use it in support of their defense, and at the same time ask the judge/cop to site their town's definition of how long a stop should be.  Since the town wouldn't have such a definition, it would, in theory, allow the case to be dismissed.

[Brandon]

Yes, it looks like you can review it for the City of Chicago.  Had to look it up - never had one.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/fin/provdrs/parking_and_redlightcitationadministration/svcs/view_red-light_video.html

[Jardine]

Wow.

Was nearly flattened by a 'rolling right turn on red' in Omaha Nebraska just a week ago.  Never occurred to me a red light camera could be set to catch dipwads doing that.  Just figured it had to be a driver going straight through for the computer to decide to fire the cameras.

I'm looking at the Chicago story with mixed feelings, considering my near brush with a Tahoe.

[Joe The Dragon]

A few weeks ago the one right by superdawg was in a endless flashing mode

[Jardine]

Is it possible to set a red light camera to catch diptards not signalling turns ??

We could pay off the national debt with that one . . . .

[jeffandnicole]

Wow.

Was nearly flattened by a 'rolling right turn on red' in Omaha Nebraska just a week ago.  Never occurred to me a red light camera could be set to catch dipwads doing that.  Just figured it had to be a driver going straight through for the computer to decide to fire the cameras.

I'm looking at the Chicago story with mixed feelings, considering my near brush with a Tahoe.

Chances are people would still be flattened if the camera was there.  They don't stop the accident, they only record the accident.

[skluth]

Dang. Too bad we can't +1 comments. I don't speed or run red lights, and I still hate them for other issues. Great original post and comments guys.

[Jardine]

Still, I like the idea of fining those violators steeply.

It will hurt their chances for reproductive success, which translates into more chicks for the rest of us.

[Brandon]

From intersection to appeal: How red light camera system works

Rather than capture images of tens of millions of cars passing by legally, the system is designed to predict which vehicles are most likely to run a red light. That's because under the law, the camera system has to capture a driver entering the intersection after the light is red. So the camera must start recording before any violation takes place.

Interesting graphic & pictures.

[Brandon]

This is getting interesting.

Aldermen to call for watchdog probe, possibly red light refunds

A group of Chicago aldermen is planning to call on City Hall's top watchdog to launch an audit of the city's red light camera system with an eye toward issuing refunds to anyone who has been wrongly ticketed.

Today, Ald. Scott Waguespack said he and several colleagues want Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to begin an exhaustive review of the citywide network of red light cameras in response to a Tribune investigation showing evidence that wild swings in the number of tickets issued at dozens of intersections since 2007 were caused by faulty equipment, human tinkering or both.

[Brandon]

Very interesting indeed.

City to review 9,000 questionable red light tickets

The review process will be reopened for some 9,000 Chicago drivers who received red light citations during suspicious spikes in ticketing revealed last week by a Tribune investigation, the city's top transportation official said today.

Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld told aldermen during an unscheduled appearance at a City Council committee hearing that the ticketed drivers will be given the opportunity to have each violation "reviewed"  to "determine its validity."

How about just ending the program?

[Brandon]

Deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole we go.

Chicago Tribune digital (digital members only, so I'll put as much as I can here):

Redflex insider: I testified about secret meeting

A former employee of the company that launched Chicago's red light cameras testified Wednesday before a federal grand jury investigating bribery allegations, and he said he recounted a secret meeting atop the John Hancock Center and even answered questions about yellow light times at city intersections.

Michael Schmidt, 51, who flew in from Phoenix under federal subpoena, told the Tribune that he testified about a 2003 meeting in a skyline bar where his bosses at Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. were coached by a city official on how to win the contract.

Schmidt first detailed the meeting in a February report in the Tribune.

Federal authorities have already charged the former city official, John Bills, with taking bribes from the company, and the grand jury continues to investigate allegations surrounding the alleged payoffs.

In an interview after his testimony Wednesday, Schmidt said he gave the grand jury essentially the same account he related to the Tribune in February – that he was among a contingent of company executives who met with Bills in the Signature Lounge atop the Hancock Center on the eve of a crucial meeting at City Hall that would help decide which of two competing companies would get the contract.

"Essentially, he spent two hours coaching us on how to win the contract, telling us how to behave, what things were going to work and what wouldn't," Schmidt told the Tribune in February.

"That's when I really knew for the first time that we already had that contract before we even checked into the hotel that day," he said then. "We were going through the motions, but it was clear to me we were getting that contract. It was a done deal."

Bills has denied that the Hancock Center meeting took place.

Of course, it's Chicago.

Schmidt said Wednesday that he detailed the Hancock Center meeting in a six-page statement he prepared before his testimony with the help of a federal prosecutor.

He said he and five other Redflex officials flew from Arizona to Chicago in February 2003 to attend a meeting at City Hall where city officials would set out the parameters of the trial program and answer any questions from the two potential vendors. That team included Karen Finley, then vice president of operations, and Aaron Rosenberg, the company's top salesman at the time who is now cooperating with federal authorities under an immunity agreement.

Finley would go on to become company president and CEO. Rosenberg was fired last year by Redflex and sued for his role in the bribery scandal. He has countersued the company, alleging that Finley and others made him a scapegoat to cover up a long-standing practice of "providing government officials with lavish gifts and bribes."

He said he and others sat slack-jawed as they listened to Bills – at the time an assistant commissioner in the city's Department of Transportation, later to become managing deputy commissioner of transportation.

"Bills looked right at me and told me, 'I'm going to address you by name, but you have to pretend like we never met. It has to look on the up and up,'" Schmidt said in February. On Wednesday, Schmidt said he detailed to the jury how Bills pretended not to know him at the City Hall meeting the next day. "He went out of his way to say, 'You're Mike, right?' when he didn't have to. I thought that was very telling."

In February, Schmidt described Finley at the Hancock: "I remember glancing over at Karen, and she just put her finger to her mouth quietly as if to say, 'Sshhh.' There was a deal under the table to get that contract before we even went to the Hancock that night. It was obvious that something was going on that shouldn't be."

On Wednesday, Schmidt said he detailed the entire meeting for the grand jury.

But fallout from the news reports prompted Redflex to commission a second internal investigation, this time by former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman. Hoffman's probe, completed last March, confirmed the corruption allegations in the 2010 whistleblower memo and expanded upon them, the company said in its summary of Hoffman's investigation filed with the Australian Securities Exchange. Hoffman identified 17 company-paid trips for Bills – which included airfare, hotels, rental cars, golf outings and meals, according to the filing.

Hoffman also found that Redflex paid its Chicago consultant, who has personal ties to Bills, more than $2 million, the company said. The "highly suspicious" arrangement among Redflex, the consultant and Bills "will likely be considered bribery by the authorities," the company said.

Bills retired in 2011 after a 30-year city career that saw him rise from a streetlight maintenance worker to the deputy managing commissioner of the Transportation Department under former Mayor Richard M. Daley. He was a longtime precinct captain in the political operation of House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Big shocker, especially in this state. /sarc.

[triplemultiplex]

If red light cameras appeared in a neighborhood I lived in, the municipality might find that those cameras keep having unfortunate accidents.

[Brandon]

City Hall spells out review of suspicious red light camera tickets

City Hall plans to start sending out letters Friday to at least 9,000 drivers with details of the review process to determine whether the city sends them $100 refunds for red light camera citations issued during unexplained, suspicious spikes in tickets.

Reacting to a Tribune investigation published last week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration said in an email that drivers will have 45 days to request a review of their violation by email, phone, mail or in person.

Within 30 days of receiving the request, an outside auditor will review "all available information"  and issue a determination. In those cases where video is no longer available, still photos will be reviewed, according to the administration.

"If the still photos and/or video do not clearly prove the law was broken, drivers will receive a refund,"  the email said. "So the onus will be on the city to clearly prove the law was broken."

Instead of offering refunds to all the affected motorists, Emanuel has opted to offer at least 9,000 drivers ticketed during a dozen spikes identified by the Tribune a chance for a refund through a review process the administration says will be conducted by an outside auditor.

Asked Thursday whether it's fair to ticket a driver one day for a behavior that wasn't being ticketed the day before, Emanuel would not say. "I will answer a fair question,"  he said.

Of course.  It's all about the Benjamins.

Asked why his administration seems focused more on driver behavior than the consistency of camera enforcement, Emanuel again sidestepped the issue.

"There's going to be a process, because there's video and there's photos. That's how we're going to go forward,"  the mayor said. "That's how we did it in the past. And what you don't want to do is set up a system of something different, even though there is a third review, like other people say, "˜Well why do they get to do that, and we don't?"

[Brandon]

Chicago aldermen ask City Hall watchdog to probe red light ticket program

A group of Chicago aldermen has asked City Hall's top watchdog to probe the city's besieged red light ticketing program, raising questions about the oversight, consistency and fairness of a camera system in "continued disorder."

The request follows a Tribune investigation that found thousands of drivers cited during a series of suspicious spikes in tickets throughout Chicago that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration has been unable to explain.

The aldermen asked Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to also probe the operations and revenue of the red light ticketing program, including issues ranging from the timing of yellow lights to inconsistent enforcement of traffic laws. And the City Council members requested a flow chart of city employees involved in the program's oversight "because no one seemed to be in charge."

The two-page letter from aldermen asks Ferguson to expand on his office's 2013 audit of the program that found "a lack of basic record keeping and an alarming lack of analysis."

The group also asked him to probe the causes of the ticket spikes, figure out how the city has spent nearly half a billion dollars in fines it has collected from drivers since its inception, and whether there were "unannounced changes to the standards for ticketing."

"Does the data revealing these spikes lead to other anomalies in the system or problems not unveiled in your 2013 review or in the Tribune investigation?"  the aldermen wrote. "Of the 4 million tickets written, is there indication of other spikes in prior years where the same issued may have occurred?"

National experts who reviewed the Tribune's findings said such inconsistent enforcement is unfair and should prompt refunds - whether or not there was a technical infraction. On Thursday, Emanuel declined to address the issue of fairness, instead suggesting the question itself was unfair.

Ferguson's office already is working with federal authorities investigating the corruption allegations that prompted Emanuel to fire the original camera company, Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc., in February 2013. That investigation, also prompted by Tribune reports, centers on an alleged bribery scheme involving the company and the former city official who oversaw the program since it began in 2003 until he retired in 2011.

That official, John Bills, who was a top transportation manager under former Mayor Richard M. Daley, was charged with bribery by federal authorities in May on allegations he took up to $2 million in payoffs from the company. Bills has denied any wrongdoing. A federal grand jury continues to investigation the payoff allegations.

Amid the federal bribery investigation, the Emanuel administration gave Redflex several contract extensions while it chose and transitioned to a new vendor, Xerox State & Local Solutions. Redflex stopped managing the program in March.

Xerox State & Local Solutions, as you know from here, is in deep trouble over Baltimore's traffic camera system.

[Brandon]

This just keeps getting better, The Empire Strikes Back.

City Hall fights back at red-light camera hearing

A contingent of City Hall lawyers and officials appeared in a tiny hearing room to defend the city's automated traffic ticket program during a three-hour hearing at which an administrative judge said he is throwing out tickets because yellow light times are too short.

The city's heightened sensitivity follows a Tribune investigation that detailed suspicious spikes in red-light camera tickets throughout the city, including cases of inconsistent enforcement and yellow light times.

During Monday's hearing, administrative judge Robert A. Sussman upheld three automated camera speeding tickets but threw out two red-light camera tickets after determining the yellow light time fell short of the minimum three seconds required at all city lights.

"I've been calling up a lot of tickets where the amber times are 2.9 (seconds),"  Sussman told the Tribune on Tuesday. "That's what I said on the record and I stand by that."

"I think they are scared,"  said Fagel, who calls himself the "red light doctor"  and charges $50 to help motorists fight their tickets. "I've been doing this for six years and they have never sent lawyers in to fight me before. After your stories and all the pressure they are feeling, I think they don't want to allow anyone to become a lightning rod on this issue."

Fagel has long argued that yellow lights at red light camera locations are set short to generate ticket revenue from motorists who don't have time to stop. He has produced videos with his own stopwatch software that he says proves his point.

[Brandon]

Former red light camera CEO indicted, federal probe expands

The ex-CEO of Redflex Traffic Systems and the former head of Chicago's red light camera program were indicted today on conspiracy charges in an expansion of the federal investigation into an alleged $2 million bribery scheme.

Prosecutors accused the former CEO, Karen Finley, of agreeing to enrich former city manager John Bills in exchange for his help securing the Chicago contract and growing it into the largest red light camera program in the nation. Bills was charged with bribery in a May criminal complaint.

Bills' longtime friend Martin O'Malley, who was hired by Redflex as a Chicago consultant, was also indicted Wednesday on a charge that he served as the bagman for some $2 million in Redflex payments, much of it intended for Bills.

In their press release announcing the indictment, federal prosecutors said the investigation was continuing.

"When public officials peddle influence for profit, the consequences are severe, and when corporate executives enable that corruption, the same rule applies.  We will attack alleged public corruption from every angle,"  Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said in the press release.

It's high time to end this program, IMHO.

[roadman]

Wow.

Was nearly flattened by a 'rolling right turn on red' in Omaha Nebraska just a week ago.  Never occurred to me a red light camera could be set to catch dipwads doing that.  Just figured it had to be a driver going straight through for the computer to decide to fire the cameras.

I'm looking at the Chicago story with mixed feelings, considering my near brush with a Tahoe.

Chances are people would still be flattened if the camera was there.  They don't stop the accident, they only record the accident.

And the citation would still only be for the red light violation, not for flattening the pedestrian.  Plus, I'm sure the driver's attorney would figure some way to get the pictures declared inadmissible at the trial.

[Brandon]

Chicago Tribune poll: Chicagoans want changes on red light camera program

Behind paywall.

More than nine out of 10 Chicago voters think changes should be made to the city's red light camera program, but they are split on whether the beleaguered system should be eliminated or improved with better management and oversight, a Chicago Tribune poll has found.

Overall, 92 percent of voters said they think some kind of change should be made, with 47 percent saying the red light cameras need better oversight and management while another 45 percent said they should be eliminated. Only 5 percent of voters thought the program is functioning as it should, and 3 percent said they didn't know or had no opinion, the poll found.

Poll respondent Diane Kasper said the cameras should be scrapped, calling them "traps" and "just a revenue grab."

"They're just grossly unfair," said Kasper, 60, an inventory worker from Sauganash. "I just think they mislead people. I think people don't know if they should stop, if they should turn, if they're going to get stuck in the middle of the intersection."

Respondent Reid Hyams said the cameras don't serve their stated purpose of encouraging safe driving. "They don't necessarily reflect what's going on in traffic," said the 61-year-old Rogers Park resident who works in the music business.

He cited as an example the frequent bumper-to-bumper traffic at Lake Shore Drive and Hollywood Avenue on the Far North Side. "If you stop you're going to get into a major accident, if you don't stop, you get a ticket," he said.

Yeah, having been through that one, it's a nasty place for a camera, and all about the Benjamins.

White voters and African-Americans voters' views differed on what to do about the problems with the red light camera system. Among black voters, 50 percent wanted the program eliminated, while 43 percent thought better management and oversight was the answer. But only 37 percent of white voters wanted the cameras eliminated, while 53 percent thought the program needed better management.

Are there more red light cameras on the South Side than the North Side?

Overall, the poll found 2 out of 3 Chicago voters believe the red light cameras are a bad idea, while 28 percent said they are a good idea and 6 percent had no opinion. APC Research Inc. interviewed 800 registered city voters by cellphone and landline from Aug. 6-12. The poll had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

[Brandon]

And in another, nearby municipality...

Park Ridge reconsiders new red light cameras

Red Speed Illinois, the company that operates the city's lone camera at Oakton Street and Northwest Highway, proposes another one for Dempster Street and Potter Road but must first get approval from the Illinois Department of Transportation. To do that, it needs the City Council's permission to make the request.

Aldermen voted 4-2 Monday night to send Red Speed's request back to the council's informal committee-of-the-whole for more debate.

"My support is wavering a little bit," said Ald. Daniel Knight, 5th Ward, who suggested sending the question back to the committee.

After reading recent Tribune coverage of Chicago's travails with its red light camera operator and similar problems in other cities, Knight said he wants Red Speed representatives to explain how Park Ridge's program is different from Chicago's.

"I did believe in the safety angle for them, but I'm getting a little fuzzy on that," he added. "I'm coming to question why these are there."

Aldermen also questioned whether the cameras are primarily a public safety tool or a revenue-raiser.

It's a good question.

If aldermen ultimately approve Red Speed's request, it could face a veto from Mayor David Schmidt, who said he is philosophically opposed to red light cameras and bothered by the fact that most camera-promoted tickets are for right turns on red rather than the original notion of preventing people from running red lights.

Even though the question is only whether to let Red Speed approach IDOT, Schmidt said, "I haven't vetoed something in a long time, and this looks like a good one to me."

This mayor seems to have some sort of sense.  But,

Alds. Joseph Sweeney, 1st, and Nicholas Milissis, 2nd, were the only votes against returning the topic to the committee-of-the-whole.

Sweeney said he has no problem with the city using the red light cameras as a revenue source, likening it to the city's transfer tax on real estate sales.

So this moron has no problem with using it for revenue instead of safety!?!

[Brandon]

And back in Chicago...

(Behind paywall)

Key red light camera player cooperating with feds

The alleged bagman in a $2 million bribery scandal over Chicago's red light camera contract is cooperating with federal authorities and has testified in the ongoing grand jury investigation, the Tribune has learned.

Martin O'Malley, 73, the Chicago-based consultant for Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. since the contract began in 2003, has admitted that much of the $2 million he was paid by the company was used as payoffs to a top city manager who oversaw the traffic camera program from the beginning, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Asked about O'Malley's cooperation agreement in an interview this week, his attorney acknowledged that O'Malley has testified before the grand jury and admitted his role in the alleged decadelong conspiracy. O'Malley, who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, is expected to eventually plead guilty in the case.

O'Malley's cooperation means two Redflex employees who worked closely with Bills throughout the decade Redflex ran Chicago's camera system have turned government informants against him. The first was Aaron Rosenberg, former Redflex executive vice president of sales, who is cooperating under an immunity agreement.

Described in the indictment as "Individual A," Rosenberg was portrayed by prosecutors as the company's point man in the scheme. He was fired last year as the investigation intensified. He has filed a defamation suit against Redflex accusing the company of doling out bribes and gifts at "dozens of municipalities" in 14 states. He says he was made a scapegoat to cover up the long-standing practice after the Tribune began asking questions about the Chicago contract.

O'Malley is also tied to another Redflex deal under scrutiny by federal corruption investigators in Louisiana. O'Malley told the Tribune in 2012 that he introduced Redflex to a Louisiana lobbyist embroiled in a controversy over his own lucrative 3 percent commission deal with the company.

Interesting that red light cameras are related to bribes and corruption in more than one place.

[Zeffy]

Reflex Traffic Systems Inc. also contributed to a boatload of bullshit over here in New Jersey as well. NJ.com has an opinion article that sums it up rather well:

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/08/alleged_red-light_camera_corruption_comes_out_-_and_more_mulshine.html#incart_river

Red light cameras are the biggest bullshit I've ever seen. The only thing they do is steal money from the people who fall victim to them. Good thing these scumbags bribed our pols to get these things installed in the first place.

[Henry]

Just wondering: Is the Martin O'Malley from Chicago related to the MD governor of the same name?

And BTW, I'm not surprised by this at all. It's just another one in a long series of scandals that have threatened to plague the Windy City dating all the way back to the Prohibition days.