Dear members of the City Council,
I'm writing to urge you to end the use of red light cameras in Menlo Park. I write to you as a resident who primarily bikes to and
from work in Menlo Park. I live on Arbor Rd. and bike to SRI International daily. I am an advocate for making the streets safer
for all users. Because I bike I feel that I have a somewhat objective view of this situation as I am less likely to be ticketed
and therefore not speaking as a person experiencing "sour grapes".
There are many problems with the use of Red Light Cameras nationally. RedFlex has a host of it's own problems;
RedFlex was caught bribing local officials in Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago to get city contracts.
Former Redflex CEO Karen Finley was sentenced by a federal judge to serve 30 months in prison in the Illinois case and 14 months
in the Ohio case. She’s also been ordered to pay $2 million in restitution.
However my complaint against red light cameras goes beyond any one contractor. It is the idea of criminal justice for profit that
I find so distasteful. Our police officers work hard in Menlo Park to serve and protect, not to make a profit. Law enforcement
should strive to be objective. Red Light cameras incentivize issuing tickets. Contractors across the country have fallen prey to
this temptation and rigged the system in their favor. Actions like shortening yellow light times, and bribing city officials serve
as an examples. Without strong, independent (not from redflex) data demonstrating that these devices improve public safety please
remove them.
Thank you for listening,
Sincerely,
Devin Prouty
https://theconversation.com/cameras-can-catch-cars-that-run-red-lights-but-that-doesnt-make-streets-safer-100217
[https://theconversation.com/cameras-can-catch-cars-that-run-red-lights-but-that-doesnt-make-streets-safer-100217]
https://www.motorists.org/issues/red-light-cameras/studies/ [https://www.motorists.org/issues/red-light-cameras/studies/]
