Man Accused of Smashing Scam Van

Wanted for Questioning

Backlash against Arizona’s beleaguered statewide automated ticketing program has struck again according to KTVK/AZFamily.

This time, an individual is accused of using a rock to smash into a Redflex surveillance talivan, causing “significant damage.”

The vans—which yield a high profit margin for the Australian company—have recently been disabled with post it notes in other parts of Arizona, as well as towed away by upset property owners in Louisiana.

On July 5, 2009 at about 15 minutes past midnight Coconino County Sheriff’s Deputies were at the Pilot Truck Stop in Belmont investigating a possible domestic dispute.

A second vehicle with two deputies responded to assist. They were driving west bound on Interstate Highway 40 when one of the deputies observed an individual in close proximity to an unmanned DPS Photo Radar vehicle.

As the deputies pulled in behind the photo radar vehicle located on the shoulder of the east bound lanes in the area of mile marker 184.5, a suspect who was later identified as twenty-seven year old Louis Sanchez of Tucson Arizona exited the vehicle through the driver’s side door.

The deputies observed that the window of the front driver’s side door had smashed with a rock.

Deputies arrested Sanchez for felony criminal damage and misdemeanor trespass to the DPS [REDFLEX! -CF] vehicle. The interior of the photo radar vehicle sustained significant damage to include damage to computer equipment.

Monthly Meeting

Please join us for our monthly meeting the 2nd Tuesday of each month at TC Luigi’s Pizza in Tempe!

>>> RSVP Here >>>

This is a casual event where everyone can get to know each other better while exchanging information and ideas to further the cause of ending automated ticketing. This is a great opportunity to bring your ideas to the table, or to express your views on the types of events and activities you think we should be doing. We need your help and creative input to push these efforts forward.

SIGNATURE GATHERERS: You can drop off or pick up sheets at this event, as well as other supplies and items. Those interested in helping collect signatures are also welcome to sign up: we’ll help you get started. Its so easy!

Happy 4th of July!

At least the signage is visible…

Welcome to CameraFRAUD

SPECIAL PROTEST-DAY EDITION
Interstate 10 and 16th Street
July 3 2009 – 4:00 PM

Why Oppose Automated Ticketing?

It’s Fraud. There is no independent oversight to ensure the accuracy of the cameras and sensors. Redflex and ATS, the two companies running these schemes, have repeatedly been involved in scandals ranging from forgery to faulty equipment (1, 2, 3, 4, 27 pages more…). The State Treasurer has even called the implementation to be in violation of the State Constitution.

It’s Big Brother. The cameras record and stream high-quality video 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even of those not accused by the cameras of an infraction. Automatic License Plate Recognition tracks vehicles and compares the registration data on drivers to national databases. “Point-to-point” speed requires the cataloging of all passing license plate data, as well as the related imaging (see Redflex pdf).

It’s About the Money. Automated ticketing was pushed on Arizona only as a method to generate revenue, and lots of it. Former Gov. Janet Napolitano publicly admitted that she wanted to raise over $90 MILLION dollars a year using the system. This takes money out of the local economy and sends it overseas to Australia’s Redflex. In addition, the money is also used to help fund politicians’ re-election campaigns.

It’s Extortion. It’s Unfair. Arizona lies to drivers on so-called “notices of violation,” which are mailed out in an attempt to frighten unsuspecting people into waiving their Constitutional rights. The mailing of a document via USPS is not proper service, and you are not required to respond. Top executives of ATS and Redflex know this, as they have repeatedly ignored their own tickets. Arizona Judge Keegan calls the system unconstitutional.

It’s Unsafe. Photo radar has NEVER stopped a speeder or dangerous driver. Drunks, fugitives, and car theives go unpunished by automated ticketing. Bright flashes cause “temporary driver blindness” according to the inventor’s own patent. Cameras are placed in dangerous locations against the advice of researchers so that revenue can be maximized.

Police say photo radar delays response times. 43% fatality increase on photo-enforced Tempe roadways. Rear end collisions, which can prove to be exceptionally deadly, see increases of 54% to 65%. Even pro-photo enforcement groups such as AAA question DPS’s bogus “safety” statistics. Red-light cameras also prove to be a threat to life and property, with some cities reporting an astonishing 89% increase in injury accidents.


Top 5 Things You Can Do To Help

DONATE to Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar.

JOIN US on Meetup or Twitter.

ATTEND our next meeting on July 14, 2009.

SIGN the ballot measure to end automated ticketing.

START collecting signatures for the ballot measure or send us an email to become a business collection point.

Redflex’s Latest Contraption

Putting the “trap” in contraption…

This piece of equipment was spotted pulling out of Redflex’s parking lot this morning.

It appears to be some type of stand-alone, mobile radar unit with four dome cameras mounted on a pole. It also has flash units and a radar device similar to the ones in the Talivans.

When asked what it does, the driver replied in his raspy, tough guy voice… “It’s gonna catch speeders!”

See more pictures here.

Redflex Violates Contract, Gets Dumped

Dear Redflex,

We know breaking up is hard to do, but look on the bright side: It’ll just make you stronger for when the rest of your contracts start to fall apart.

WAFB – The Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office says it will discontinue use of the controversial “speed van”.   The sheriff’s department says it decided to end its contract with Redflex, the company that owns the van, after the driver of the speed van parked it on private property without getting written permission from the owner.

The Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office blasted the disregard of private property in a press release, also suggesting that employees of the automated ticking company made improper comments to those who did the towing:

Due to a recent series of events regarding Redflex and its representatives, the… Sheriff’s Office is discontinuing its participation in the parish’s photo enforcement program…  [Parking on private property] was in direct violation of Redflex’s company policy… furthermore, it was brought to the attention of Sheriff’s Officials that improper comments were made to the towing company employees by the Redflex representative regarding the towing of the vehicle.

…Officials have concluded that any benefit derived from this program has been overshadowed by public concerns that have arisen in response to this and other recent actions of [Redflex]… therefore, effectively immediately, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office is discontinuing… participation in the Livingston Parish Photo Enforcement Program.

Thank You Twitter Followers!

What's CameraFRAUD Doing? You'll always know on Twitter...

Congratulations are in order for Ross on gaining over 1000 followers with CameraFRAUD Twitter!

Combined with Meetup membership, CameraFRAUD is almost 2600 people strong, and proudly the largest organization worldwide fighting automated ticketing. (See our new “About us” page here.)

The Cameras are Coming Down…

Louisiana: Church Tows Redflex Scam Van

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Paradise Valley Caught In $193k Ticket Fraud

From TheNewspaper.com:

A group campaigning to eliminate photo enforcement in Arizona has forced Paradise Valley to admit that it has been shortchanging drivers. A volunteer with the group Camerafraud.com discovered the city used illegally short yellows at the intersection of Tatum Boulevard and McDonald Drive. The motorist was mailed a red light camera ticket for allegedly entering the intersection just 0.2 seconds after the light had turned red.

“I was nailed with a ticket at an intersection that left me very perplexed because I didn’t think I was going to get a ticket,” David K. wrote on June 16. “I thought I was close enough to the intersection to pass the limit line before the light turned red. Well, I thought wrong because the duration for the yellow light on a 40 MPH speed limit road was only three seconds…”

…Altogether, 1063 motorists issued red light camera tickets between May 6 and June 16 will receive refunds if paid or have their citations canceled. Most have not paid. This represents a loss of $193,466 in potential revenue to the city.

It’s important to note that less than a day after the whistleblower posted his video online and contacted the city, Paradise Valley quietly corrected the yellow light timing to the proper threshold. A video made by the driver before-and-after was the only proof of the misdeed, so you can be assured that without it the issue would have been quietly swept under the rug.

Redflex and Paradise Valley: Where perpetrating fraud is always about the money.

THAYER THE BETRAYER?

I did what?

6/30/09: UPDATED W/ Response from Verschoor, see below

Thayer Verschoor, R-(eally?) Gilbert was the lone wolf in attempting to reverse a proposed ban on automated ticketing that has been working its way through the State Senate.

Verschoor should know better than any legislator how unpopular photo enforcement is with constituents: his hometown of Gilbert is the only major city in the East Valley to not use the revenue-enhancing systems on their streets and roadways.

So why did he do it? We have no idea, but you’re welcome to contact his office and ask. Post the response you get, if any, in the comments section below.

Thayer Verschoor
Phone: (602) 926-4136
Fax: (602) 417-3220

Verschoor’s response:

This was Andy Biggs Bill. He drafted an amendment in my name to remove the Photo Enforcement Ban from his bill if it looked like the the Photo Enforcement Ban was going to cause his bill to die. The bill came up for consideration while I was in the House of Representatives reviving a bill of mine that had died the night before. The amendment was offered even though I was not there. Had I been there I would not have offered the amendment because his bill was fine and I do not support photo speed enforcement. Hopefully that is clear.

Thanks,

Thayer

We thank Thayer for his prompt response. In addition, Mr. Verschoor has agreed to be a guest speaker at our next monthly meeting.