MEMO: City Council Members
RE: New Ways to Solve Budget Problems
Reduces traffic violations…check!
Raises much-needed cash for the City…check!
Frees up police resources…check!
What’s not to love about cop-cams? Sure, civil libertarians will cry foul but pointing so-called cop-cams on public streets is not a violation of anyone’s civil rights and can help the City deal with reckless drivers at a minimal cost with a potentially huge payoff.
“In Chevy Chase, for example, where speeding tickets brought in about $8,000 monthly before cop cams, ‘We are routinely bringing in approximately a quarter-million dollars per month,’ Geoffrey Biddle, Chevy Chase’s village manager, told his Board of Managers in February.
For a community of 2,000 with an annual budget of $4.6 million, that’s a bonanza. What’s more, because locals know enough to evade the cop cams, the village’s new revenue mostly comes from outsiders, rather like a commuter tax.
Nor are Chevy Chase’s big gains unique. Washington’s dozen cop cams have taken in more than $200 million since 2001. Scottsdale’s six freeway cameras took in $17 million in 2006.”
I love how the traffic ticket provides a link to the incriminating video so that driver can watch themselves run a red light or block an intersection from the comfort of their own living room. GOTCHA!