Stealing From Constituents May Have Political Cost

Raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from photo radar and dangerous red light scams (during an unprecedented economic recession) “may” have political consequences says Captain Obvious, who is apparently working for the mainstream media:

What’s unclear is the political costs to be paid by city officials when residents vote in November on whether to keep the devices. People on both sides of the issue are saying that public sentiment against the cameras could translate into votes against candidates who are seen as supporting them.

In Heath, where cameras generated $554,729 in fees in their first two months of operation, Mayor Richard Waugh said he understands why the anti-camera crowd would want to make him the poster boy for photo enforcement.

(From Columbus Dispatch)

St. Ptb Times: “Put The Brakes On Red light Cams”

From the St. Petersburg Times:

Florida local governments are trying to find new revenues as tax collections decline, but hopefully Tarpon Springs is not so desperate for cash that it will install red light cameras and issue expensive tickets to residents and visitors just to shore up the city budget.

During a recent City Commission budget session, Mayor Beverley Billiris suggested installing red light cameras to provide new revenue, saying, “There are cities making $15,000 a week off those things.” [...]

There are even broader concerns about red light cameras.

When it comes to safety, there is not universal agreement that the cameras reduce collisions… If the goal is to reduce intersection crashes, better results are obtained by lengthening the time the light stays yellow as well as building in a slightly longer pause before the cross street’s light turns green. [...]

Lawsuits have been filed against local governments because of such issues. Local governments in Florida are among those now fighting lawsuits — and incurring legal fees.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of red light camera use is that local governments may become so dependent on the revenue that they are tempted to toy with traffic light timing to increase the flow of dollars. San Diego and Dallas were accused of shortening the yellow light cycle on traffic lights so more motorists would be caught running red lights. Such behavior belies the claim that the goal is to improve safety.

Read entire article…

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..."

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.