Traffic citations down in Ventura, up elsewhere in the county
While the drivers feel their privacy is being violated, since the installation of red-light cameras, accidents at intersections are steadily decreasing
By Michael Sullivan 02/18/2010
It happens to the best of us. You’re driving along, minding your own business. Then you start singing along to your favorite tune playing on your iPod. While checking your side and rearview mirrors, you notice something: red and blue lights. Immediately, panic sets in. You begin to scramble, wondering what you did wrong. “Was I speeding?” “Did he catch me on my cell phone?” “Do I have a tail light out?”
At this point, it doesn’t really matter because the officer is walking up to your window and you need to find your car registration and insurance. Your only hope: a warning.
After the officer asks you a few questions, he writes you a ticket for going over the speed limit; and with last month’s pay cut, you feel your heart begin to pound and tears well up, wondering just how you are going to pay it. The biggest problem is that while the officer may tell you the ticket will cost around $200, you get to the courthouse and the fine is $500. The reason for the discrepancy is that the state sets the fines; the local court either upholds them or has the ability reduce them; and the officers, well, they just write the tickets.
Over the past few months, several conspiracy theories have been floating around about an increase in citations being written in Ventura County, due to budget cuts, as a way to generate revenue, with the main complaint being about the Ventura Police Department. Appearances are deceiving, however, as Ventura is the only city to see a downward trend in traffic citations over the last three years, making the claim a ridiculous one.
“The city has never asked, nor have we been given, direction to pump up revenue,” says Commander Quinn Fenwick of the Ventura PD.
That goes for red light cameras as well. While there seems to be a perception that red light cameras are strictly for generating money for cities, in Ventura, the number of red-light incident detections has been on the decline since their installations in 2002 to 2007, according the most recent data. And, coincidentally, so have accidents at intersections throughout the city, which, according to Fenwick, is their intended purpose.
Fenwick says screening the videos from the various intersections for traffic violations is a scrupulous process. Only about one-third of the red light detections turn into citations. And all violators are allowed to review their videos and contest what was recorded. Also, if the person screening the video can’t identify the person driving, most likely no citation will be filed. However, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, the owner of the car must know who is driving his or her car at all times. Fenwick said that the owner of the car doesn’t necessarily have to admit who was driving the car, but the owner can be cited if he or she claims not to know who the driver was.
In other cities in the county, the number of traffic citations has been on the rise, especially in Oxnard, where the number has nearly doubled in four years.
Brian Woolley, traffic coordinator at the Oxnard Police Department, could not comment on the increase in citations by deadline.
Fred Baskin, photo red-light enforcement program coordinator for Oxnard Police Department, said similar trends have been seen in his city as well. While he has heard many complaints about the expense of the red-light tickets, the number of detections and accidents at the photo-enforced intersections has been on a steady decrease over the last several years.
Ross Bonfiglio of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said that only Oxnard and Ventura have red-light cameras.
The cities under the sheriff’s jurisdiction do not have them.
Regarding the increase in citations in Camarillo, Ojai and Thousand Oaks, Bonfiglio said that there were various reasons, including new laws, which require officers to issue more tickets.
“There has been a couple of campaigns, like ‘Click It or Ticket,’ and people have requested that we enforce cell phone and texting laws,” he said as to reasons why for the increase in issuing citations. “People are complaining about others not abiding by the laws.”
He did note that there is no incentive for law enforcement or the cities to issue more tickets in order to generate revenue because the cities get so little of the overall fees.
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Comments
Glad to hear the cameras are working for their intended purpose. Unsafe drivers may be kicking and screaming about them, but they're working and creating safer driving conditions. That's what really matters.
Yearly, up go the number of citations, and the cost of settling one of them.
LA City & others are adding more red light cameras.
The governor wants 500 speeding ticket cams, which will up the number of automated tickets five-fold, to one per year per family.
To cope, one thing to learn about right now - because we already have red light cameras - is Snitch Tickets, fake/phishing red light camera tickets sent out by the police in an effort to fool the registered owner into ID'ing the actual driver of the car. (He doesn't have to!) Local cities using this "social engineering" tactic are Bakersfield, Corona, Garden Grove, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Laguna Woods, Los Alamitos, Loma Linda, Maywood, Moreno Valley, Riverside, Santa Ana, Santa Clarita, South Gate, and Victorville.) Snitch tickets have not been filed with the court, so they don't say "Notice to Appear," don't have the court's address and phone # on them, and usually say, on the back (in small letters), "Do not contact the court about this notice." Since they have not been filed with the court, they have zero legal weight. You can ignore a Snitch Ticket. If in doubt, Google the term.
In the future the only people who will be able to drive will be the rich, the undocumented/uninsured/criminal element with "throw away" cars, and the 1 million+ insiders who have "protected plates." If you don't know what that is, Google the term, plus "California."
Oxnards problem is the illegal alien issue. There are to many people driving with no license or no legally issued license. These people do not know our laws and could care less. Oxnard PD has no ability to site these people for being illegal in our country. I know I lived there and had to deal with a household of 25 people in a 3 bedroom with 8 vehicles. It's a mess this administration needs to deal with. Why our state doesn't handle it more effectively is beyond my comprehension. This isn't about racism either, it's about practicality. Illegal aliens collect 53% of our welfare system. FIFTY THREE PERCENT! WHY? WHY? WHY? info obtained from www.numbersusa.com
I cannot believe that ANYONE--outside the parasitical/control-freak caste of government elitists that is--would cover this issue w/anything but disgust and outrage.
Did govts start doing this in response to demands by the citizenry? I sure've never met anyone who, prior to the installment of these abominations, was saying, "Gee...it sure would be great if the city council erected spy-cameras at the intersections...that'd make me feel so much safer."
Now, of course, AFTER they've been imposed on us against our will, some people pathetically seek to rationalize this crap.
These automated "gotcha" cameras are an affront to our civil liberties, and it is incredible that ANYONE buys the b.s. about it "being for our safety". Just another way for govts to squeeze a little more $$$ out of us--except, I'm sure its NOT so 'little' to the poor victims who're shaken down for a week's wages. Govt...what would we do w/o it?
Are we heading towards a situation like in Britain, where our every move will be captured by a govt. camera?
"Citizen...we are here to protect you...you have nothing to fear...if you have nothing to hide."
What a disgrace that so few journalists look at this issue from a liberty perspective.