At Thursday's City Council meeting (Nov. 13, 2014), the Council will vote whether or not to renew the contract with Arizona based company American Traffic Solutions to operate the six red light photo-enforcement cameras in Murfreesboro for another year.
As the Daily News Journal noted, during last week's Council meeting, multiple citizens were able to speak against the cameras including, Axl David, Keith Rae, Marnie Harris, Steve Lane, myself and others. However, more work needs to be done, and quickly.
Please email, call, or personally meet with members of the City Council and tell them that you oppose these cameras and do not want the City to renew their contract with ATS.
Council member contact information:
Shane McFarland, Mayor - 615-642-9244 or smcfarland@murfreesborotn.gov
Doug Young, Vice Mayor - 615-893-7721 or dyoung@murfreesborotn.gov
Ron Washington - 615-890-0097 or rwashington@murfreesborotn.gov
Eddie Smotherman - 615-653-6103 or esmotherman@murfreesborotn.gov
Madelyn Scales Harris - 615-804-8955 or mscalesharris@murfreesborotn.gov
Rick LaLance - 615-631-6368 or rlalance@murfreesborotn.gov
For more information on the matter, please read this. Feel free to use it as a resource as well. This is based on a letter I gave to each council member.
On April,
30, 2013, Chief of Police Chris Chrisman provided
the Council with a report on the City's red light camera system. It shows in black and white that these cameras are not as effective as claimed. It showed that since 2010, the number of total crashes at camera enforced
intersections decreased 1.1% per year, whereas the number of crashes at all
intersections decreased 11% per year. Furthermore, when it came to side-angle
crashes (which are more dangerous than rear-end collisions), it showed that
they decreased 32% since 2008 at the six photo-enforced intersections, yet, the
overall decrease at all intersections was nearly 42%.
(Click for larger view.)
That
literally means you are more likely to get into an accident at camera enforced
intersections than at non-camera enforced intersections.
In the same
report, the new system that was installed in 2011 was referred to as an
“improvement” and “reduced collisions overall”. However, in that handout, the
data shows that collisions at photo enforced intersections had actually
increased in the year following the new equipment installation. The City’s budget also shows
that, contrary to the claim that these systems are working, the Police Dept.
anticipates continued growth in the number of tickets – a growth that actually
outpaces population growth. Again, evidence that these cameras aren't working.
If the overall trend is for people to drive safer across all 140+ signalized intersections, then the differences between crash figures for photo-enforced intersections and non-enforced intersections support the conclusion that these cameras aren't doing their job.
(Click for larger view.)
On top of
that, each year ATS receives the full $50 citation fee for the first 1,200 tickets, and then they get $25 for each ticket afterwards. That means over $2 million dollars has left our community to go to an out of state
company to run this camera system. Let’s also not forget, that because of how
the law governing these cameras is written, the City has voluntarily accepted (no one's requiring they use them) a
camera system that gives two very different punishments for the same crime when
it comes to being ticketed by a camera vs. by being pulled over by a police
officer; which may be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
According to the law, if you get a ticket via the cameras, the citation doesn't go on your driving record, you are not legally compelled to pay the fine, and if you don't pay the fine it can't affect your credit rating. Yet, if a police officer pulls you over and hands you a ticket for running a red light, it does go against your driving record, you are required to pay the fine, and if you don't it can go on your credit report.
In 2012, the
State Legislature amended T.C.A 55-8-198 (Citations based on surveillance
cameras) with TN Senate Bill 2872 by Sen. Southerland, which specifically states:
“No person having charge, custody of or
control over any records or information regarding a violation of this section,
including payments made pursuant to receipt of a notice of violation or a
citation, whether timely or delinquent, shall disclose these records or
information to a consumer reporting agency. In addition, no information regarding
a violation shall be disclosed or identified in any credit report.”
However, the
citations issued threaten that any failure of payment will be reported to
consumer and credit bureaus, and that it may damage the person’s credit rating. This is completely wrong.
(Click for larger view.)
The group Murfreesboro Citizens
Against Photo Enforcement, which I co-founded along with Axl David and Tim Meredith, has garnered significant media coverage about
this issue including, WGNS Radio, News Channel 4, as well as national media outlets like BenSwann.com. Murfreesboro
C.A.P.E. has also received the support of the Rutherford County Campaign for
Liberty and the Rutherford County Young Republicans. The Rutherford County
Young Republicans is the largest
partisan organization in the county in terms of dues paying members.
Murfreesboro C.A.P.E. also
set up a petition through which hundreds of other local residents have all expressed
support for ending the red light camera photo-enforcement program. Some of the
people who signed the petition include: James Gann, Bruce Cavender, and Gabriel
Fancher. The petition, which is now closed, can be found at https://www.change.org/p/murfreesboro-city-council-eliminate-red-light-photo-enforcement-in-murfreesboro.
We have all
asked the City Council unequivocally, to end the use of these cameras. These cameras have already
been banned in 7 states (AR, ME, MS, MT, NV, NH, and WV), they have been
removed in multiple communities across the country (including Mt. Juliet), and
courts have ruled against this type of camera enforcement in 2 additional
states (CA and MO).
I ask you,
if the real reason to have these cameras is safety – and the City’s own data
proves that they are not effective – then why have them? Why renew the contract
for equipment which doesn't work, and may actually be decreasing the safety of
drivers?
For more information, check out:
Murfreesboro C.A.P.E. at https://www.facebook.com/MurfreesboroCAPE
