Kansas City Robbery Botched

Artists's rendition of a recent 1.7 million dollar heist. Suspects may be armed and up for re-election.

Stupid Criminals – Municipal authorities in Kansas City, MO have failed at a recent robbery attempt.

The city officials used red light cameras to extort over 1.7 million dollars out of their constituent’s pockets. The cost to install the cameras? 1.7 million dollars.

“The city expected more revenue,” said KMBC reporter Micheal Mahoney. “The program that was designed to make money for the city may end up costing [them] money.”

Proving there’s no honor among thieves, scam cam vendor American Traffic Solutions has pocketed most of the dough:

The city budget director, Troy Schulte, said that most of the income from the fines are going to the vendor, American Traffic Solutions.

No charges have been filed against Kansas City by Kansas City in the failed robbery, although over 3,000 people have decided to fight back by requesting a hearing. The unexpected battle took the attackers off-guard:

There are 3,000 cases waiting to be heard at the (Kansas City) Municipal Court, which means the (Kansas City) police need overtime workers to re-examine the red-light pictures.

Other recent failed ticketing robberies include beleaguered Redflex Group’s statewide Arizona effort.

ATS Accused of Destroying Records in Florida

American Traffic Solutions or Above The Statutes, Inc?

American Traffic Solutions, the besieged automated ticketing vendor, is in trouble with the law again in Florida.

Already facing a class-action lawsuit regarding constitutional issues in the Sunshine State, the news now is ATS has violated state law by destroying records:

The Florida Attorney General’s Office says video footage is a public record even if it is collected by a private company, like Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions, if the company is contracted by a government agency.

And officials with the Florida Division of Library and Information Services say companies like that have to comply with the state’s record-retention schedule, which requires that the videos be kept for at least 30 days.

So, how does ATS handle challenges to its ticketing scheme? Blame the client: the city!

ATS and city officials Thursday pointed to each other as the party responsible for maintaining the videos.

But City Attorney Tim McCausland said ATS is the custodian of the records and that the company is responsible for being versed in Florida public records law, which the company agreed to abide by in its contract with the city.

Be warned council members, city managers, mayors, and project administrators: Theft through automated ticketing will always come back to haunt you, and the vendor will be laughing all the way to the bank.

(And re-election is never that far off…)

ATS Chief Booed During Awards

James " Jimmy Dean" Tuton

James Tuton, CEO of automated ticketing scam vendor American Traffic Solutions, was booed by fellow “Arizona Corporate Excellence” attendees while receiving an award Thursday evening.

The gathering is organized by the Phoenix Business Journal and was held at the prestigious JW Marriott Resort in north Phoenix (ironically, a city which just recently dumped ATS for crosstown-rival Redflex).

A CameraFRAUD reader was in attendance and provided the following account:

…hundreds of local business executives and employees of the top fifty private Arizona companies were recognized.

Once the audience realized who ATS was, about a quarter of those present actually started booing. There was very little applause; the situation was awkward. Safety was only mentioned once during the five minute speech.

Tuton also bragged in front of the audience that ATS was adding cameras and contracts at a very fast pace.  The hundreds of executives (voters) in the audience acknowledged this with even more silence.

If only Kanye was around…

"Yo James, I'm really happy for you... but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time..."

DPS Doublespeak: Cameras Called “Onerous”

Remember years ago when the City of Scottsdale decided to install photo radar cameras on the Loop 101, before the State of Arizona took over the project?

Before DPS was in a position to benefit directly from the money the cameras pull in, the tune seemed to be a bit different regarding officer response in areas where cameras are installed.

In a Phoenix New Times article from February 2007, a high-ranking official with DPS didn’t seem too pleased with the automated ticketing machines:

DPS Commander Tom Woodward says patrolmen found the Loop 101 cameras onerous. He said they may have put the public’s safety at risk.

“It deterred officers assigned to the East Valley from working that area,” Woodward says. “We still responded to calls, but officers were not in that area working traffic proactively as much as they were prior to photo enforcement.”

If Scottsdale’s small experiment on the Loop 101 with American Traffic Solutions may have put the public’s safety at risk, what does that say about the state’s massive contract with beleaguered Redflex Group?

ATS Acquires Steaming Pile of Crap

An unidentified ATS employee is seen scooping up the remains of failed photo radar vendor Nestor Traffic Systems on Sep 9, 2009

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. –(BS Wire)–

American Traffic Solutions, Inc. (ATS), the second largest provider of automated ticketing and extortion systems in North America, announced the acquisition of Nestor Traffic Systems, otherwise known as a steaming pile of crap.

ATS acquired what was left of Nestor`s fragile remains and proceeded to forcibly violate the failed company in a cheap hotel room according to company spokesdrone Josh Weiss, who also happened to be a participant in the maltreatment.

“We picked up this cheap whore for a song on the streets of Los Angeles, one of the communities she often flashes,” said Weiss. “We couldn’t resist when we saw how she could work the streets.”

Nestor lived a troubled life, often being abused at the hands of her pimps who took “lavish salaries and bonus packages” while communities contracted with the company suffered.

“We found that Nestor’s pimps believed in a philosophy that was congruent with that of our primary investor, Goldman Sachs,” said James Tuton, CEO of ATS. “Recessions and taxpayer bailouts are no reason to cancel excessive compensation packages.”

As is often the case for victims of abuse, Nestor herself lived a life of crime, surviving primarily by stealing from unsuspecting drivers.