Springfield Not Alone on Red-Light Camera Issue

American Traffic Solutions, an Arizona-based company that operates red-light cameras for St. Louis and other municipalities, has ended its contract with Jefferson County to add cameras at three intersections, according to a letter the company sent to the county.

The county signed a five-year contract with the company on Sept. 28. At that time, a three-member board of county executives — all Democrats — ran the county and supported the cameras.

But on Jan. 1, a seven-member County Council took over. Six of the members are Republicans, and the council quickly signaled its distaste for the controversial cameras.

The council has scheduled a series of public hearings, needed to repeal the Jefferson County law allowing such cameras. The first hearing is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the county administration building in Hillsboro.

“To have a successful program, our clients must share our commitment to road safety. It has become obvious from the Jefferson County Council’s recent actions that they do not,” wrote Jason Norton, vice president of advanced planning and project management for American Traffic Solutions, in the letter dated Tuesday.

County Executive Ken Waller said Wednesday that he was surprised by the company’s action but that the county has no plans to fight the termination of the contract. He also said the county had done nothing to breach the contract.

Red-light cameras in Missouri got their start in Jefferson County: Arnold installed the first camera in the state in 2005. They have been controversial ever since. Advocates hail them as tools to reduce crashes; opponents argue they’re an invasion of privacy and a money grab.

Matthew Hay of Arnold co-founded the red-light camera opposition group WrongOnRed. He said American Traffic Solutions chose to “cut and run” rather than face public scrutiny at the county’s public hearings.

“I think it’s a positive thing for Jefferson County,” Hay said of the company’s move.

The new County Council chose the red-light cameras as one of its first issues to tackle, but it may have erred in its haste. Last month, all seven council members signed a letter printed on Jefferson County letterhead stating their support for a state ban on red-light cameras.

Councilman Bob Boyer, who represents District 3, led the effort to draft the letter and send it to state legislators and media outlets. The matter never appeared on a council agenda nor was it discussed at a public meeting. The county paid the postage to mail the letter.

Jean Maneke, an attorney for the Missouri Press Association, said the letter should have been put on an agenda. At the very least, she said, it violates the spirit of the state’s open meetings law.

“Anytime that you use official letterhead and sign a document in a capacity as a public body, I find it hard to believe that the recipient of the letter didn’t believe this was done as the council as a whole,” she said.

Boyer, a longtime critic of red-light cameras, said Wednesday the letter was not an official action of the council and that a quorum never met to sign or discuss it. He also said there was no intent to keep it secret, because it was mailed to the media.

Jefferson County is not alone in its desire to repeal red-light camera contracts. In Washington, Mo., the City Council voted last month to discontinue its contract with American Traffic Solutions, which expires in March, because the cameras were not preventing enough accidents.

Meanwhile, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission on Jan. 12 adopted a new policy that will regulate, but not eliminate, red-light and speed cameras on roads and highways that are under state control. That policy lifted a three-month moratorium on new photo enforcement zones while the Missouri Department of Transportation studied how useful the cameras have been in enforcing speed and red-light laws and whether changes were needed.

But Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver “Glenn” Boyer, who is not related to Bob Boyer, said Wednesday that he would like to see the cameras in his county. His office had stood to reap half of the county’s share of each ticket. But he said that was not why he supports them.

“They save lives and prevent people from getting hurt,” the sheriff said. He cited a recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety analysis that found the rate of fatal red-light running crashes in cities with the cameras was 24 percent lower than it would have been without them.

Sheriff Boyer said the cameras are a more efficient way to keep intersections safe than stationing deputies there and that changes in how laws are enforced tend to frighten people. He remembered complaints similar to those about red-light cameras that came with the introduction of unmarked patrol cars and mobile radar units.

“If they had eliminated all that, where would we be today?” he said. “We’d be back in the Stone Ages.”