Vehicle Insurance Ticket? Talk To Camera Company

From Traffic Technology Today (UK) ~ The US state of Oklahoma is preparing an unprecedented statewide deployment of automated ticketing machines designed to generate US$95 million in revenue. Instead of using red light cameras and speed cameras, the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (DPS) is preparing to sign a contract with a company that will track all passing motorists with a network of at least 20 ALPR cameras. The devices would also generate additional revenues by issuing US$250 citations for expired insurance using the Oklahoma Compulsory Insurance Verification System (OCIVS) database that went live in July 2009.

The proposal includes a requirement for the ability to keep daily statistics and related data on vehicles for which license plate data was captured, which could include logging the date, time, and location any particular vehicle passes a stationary camera. The two largest red light camera vendors, Australia’s Redflex Traffic Systems and American Traffic Solutions (ATS), offer a nationwide tracking service that uses automated ticketing machines. ATS has filed a bid for the Oklahoma contract along with several other companies including InsureNet.

6th Amendment Violation?
“It poses a serious threat to privacy and civil liberties whenever the government compels private companies to turn over customers’ personal information,” one expert said. “It is not inherently troubling that police raise revenue from law enforcement activities. Fines help deter illegal behavior, and increased revenue can help motivate officers to do their job well.

“But the Bill of Rights keeps a motivated police force in check,” he added. “And I believe that the cameras likely violate a citizen’s Sixth Amendment right to confront his accuser. Absent an actual witness, the accused cannot cross-examine a camera.”

The winning company would install, test, maintain and operate the cameras. It would mail tickets to vehicle owners. It would run a toll-free hotline and conduct hearings where motorists would contest camera tickets before a camera company employee instead of a judge. It would also collect fines and generate statistics. In return for the right to issue tickets, the company would pay DPS a bounty on each citation collected.

Hat tip: Kaye Beach

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Officials: No OHP Trooper Furloughs Necessary

State troopers will not face furloughs as the result of budget cuts this year thanks to an additional $2.5 million that will be directed to the Department of Public Safety, officials announced today.

“As a conservative, I believe in a constitutionally limited role for government, but public safety is clearly one of those roles,” said Rep. Randy Terrill, Moore Republican who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee on public safety. “Today’s agreement will prevent an unnecessary reduction in troop presence on our roads, which could save lives."

“It has always been our intent to avoid furloughs within DPS and keep our troopers on the road, and we have done so,” said Senator Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary. “I am committed to funding Public Safety as we continue in the budget process.”

“The Oklahoma House of Representatives, the Oklahoma Senate and the Governor have worked diligently to avoid cuts to the Department of Public Safety that would result in Oklahoma state troopers being furloughed,” said Roy Rogers, president of the Oklahoma State Troopers Association. “We appreciate their effort and attention to this pressing need.”

“With this $2.5 million, the department will still have to implement other cuts and there will be diminution of services of departmental personnel such as driver’s license examiners who leave the agency who won't be replaced, but this plan will prevent any furlough of troopers on the road,” said Commissioner of Public Safety Kevin Ward.

Prior to today’s announcement, the Department of Public Safety was facing a $6.3 million total budget cut, which would have required the elimination of patrol academies (which train replacements for retiring troopers), loss of money for a new Troop K headquarters in north-central Oklahoma, a $1.2 million reduction in operational expenses such as fuel (which equates to a 25 percent cumulative cut in the operational budget over the past three years), implementing a policy of attrition (leaving vacant the positions of 25 troopers expected to retire this year and potentially as many as 40 total who may leave the agency), and implementation of furlough days for each of the remaining 800 highway patrol troopers.

Now, thanks to the $2.5 million infusion, furloughs have been taken off the table and the money for a new Troop K headquarters remains in the DPS budget, Ward said.

“We will still take budget reductions that impact our operating costs, such as gasoline for patrol cars, but we will make those cuts work within this budget framework,” Ward said.

“When you take troopers off the highways, it is diminishing our ability to fulfill our mission to protect the public,” Rogers said. “We really appreciate the House, Senate and Governor for working to prevent any potential trooper furloughs.”

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