Camera Cash

Traffic light surveillance

Bill Flanigen from the November 2009 issue

Do towns install red light cameras to protect people’s lives, or are the devices, in the words of Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, a scheme to “raise revenue under the guise of traffic law enforcement”? The latest American city to debate the question is Des Moines, where the police want to install several cameras around town.

According to the Des Moines Register, the city’s pro-camera faction argues that the plan is “about safety, not money.” Police Chief Judy Bradshaw told the Des Moines City Council in late July that cameras at high-risk intersections throughout the city will “have paid for themselves” in lives saved. Yet Des Moines police officials project that their new cameras could pay for themselves—and then some—in a more conventional way as well, with each camera bringing about $100,000 in annual revenue to the municipality.

One city councilman said he approved of the idea as long as it was “budget neutral.” But other cities in the state have struggled to stick to budget neutrality once the cameras, which cost about $60,000 each, are up and running. According to the Sioux City Journal, nearby Davenport, Iowa, collected more than $1 million in revenue from 13 speeding and traffic light cameras between 2004 and 2007.

Comments

Pingback| 11.3.09 @ 11:31AM

Camera Cash – Reason Magazine links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

lives, or are the devices, in the words of Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, a scheme to “raise revenue under the guise of traffic law enforcement”? Here is the original post:  Camera Cash – Reason Magazine Leave a Comment  |  |  |  Subscribe to It! Leave a Reply Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In…

Pingback| 11.3.09 @ 11:48AM

Camera Cash - Reason Magazine | Camera case live today links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…people’s lives, or are the devices, in the text of Chiwere Supreme Court Justice king Wiggins, a plot to “raise income low the semblance of reciprocation accumulation enforcement”? Read more:  Camera Cash - Reason Magazine Posted in Law, Uncategorized | Tags: guise, Law, the-words, towns-install, under-the, under-the-guise, wiggins, words Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply. Name (required) Mail (will not be…

|11.3.09 @ 3:04PM|#

There is an easy way to prove they are about safety: they just have to agree that the yellow light times at intersections with cameras will be set to no less than 6 seconds.

Of course, they never will. They'd rather make them more dangerous by lowering the yellow light time.

Barnet Fagel|11.4.09 @ 11:59AM|#

If the question of red light ticketing cameras is put to a public referendum, it will most likely be defeated as it was in 3 cities yesterday and all other cites in the past. And adding the proper amount of yellow time ( 1-2 seconds) provides safer intersections economically. To see how Chicago has shortened their yellow traffic signals to increase revenue go to http://www.youtube.com/user/MrBFagel
Motorists.org

|11.14.09 @ 6:40PM|#

I am a hacker who is skilled at retreiving passwords to accounts. I require either a Name, Friend ID, or E-mail address of the target account(s). I have the help of a current 0-Day Exploit that allows me to gain remote access to the website servers and from there I find the password which is usually in an MD5 hash from that I must decrypt to get the real password. The entire process takes 30 minutes-1 hour to complete. All passwords are tested out 3 times before they get issued to any clients. I accept Cash and all Major Credit Cards.
You can reach me at: [e-mail]

If you have any questions or anything, please feel free.

SpyDr ByTe