Redflex, ATS and Red Means Stop Recruit Young Sockpuppeteer with Fake Twitter Following

The Scamera bandits and their hired apologists like Red Means Stop just can’t seem to help themselves. You may remember that Red Means Stop is bankrolled by Redflex and American Traffic Solutions. It’s so lovely when those two can work together to create nausea inducing phony public awareness campaigns.

Now that more and more courts and politicians have begun to reject ticket scameras, the only tactic left is to indoctrinate the youth, which is just what they’re attempting. The only question is how to find the right person to advocate for organized crime, masquerading as public safety. It looks like the scamera cartel found their gal in Jordan Hibbs. Hibbs is currently in hot water for purchasing almost her entire following on twitter, amounting to 18,000, to boost her profile. Looks like we have a perfect match! Read more below:

Redflex, ATS Front Group Props up “Political Tool” with Fake Twitter Following

WarOnDriving.com

The key to getting people hooked on bad habits for life is to start them young. Just ask tobacco and alcohol companies, who notoriously catered their ads to minors for decades.It serves as no surprise then, that a failing industry like photo ticketing would be looking to youthful advocates in an attempt to indoctrinate impressionable go-getters and score a new face for their scam. It looks like a woman named Jordan Hibbs, of ASU, has been snatched up by an American Traffic Solutions/Redflex front group. As it turns out, she may just be the perfect person to assume their spokes person roll. Jordan admits, she’s not afraid to “fake it” as long as it elevates her status in the process. More on that is coming up.

Scamera Company Propaganda is a Shadowy Game

This dark side of propaganda certainly has not escaped red light camera and photo radar companies. In fact, their astroturf front groups like Red Means Stop fill their coffers with hefty donations from the two profit-driven camera vendors, Redflex and American Traffic Solutions. The organization will then advocate for “safe roads,” but conveniently ignore best practices to achieve that goal, like longer yellow light times. They  instead claim the only solution is to put up cameras. It’s more than a cozy relationship, it’s dishonest and damaging to the safety goals they claim to advocate.

Sen John McCain with lobbyist group, Red Means Stop

Enter Jordan Hibbs, a high profile attendee of Arizona State University. She has amassed what would appear to be quite a following on Social Media, specifically Twitter, where she boasts 18k followers. That high of a number for someone who isn’t a public figure didn’t make sense to one ASU student who did some investigating and pointed out that most of this following was fake and probably purchased by Hibbs. Hibbs admitted as much in a mea culpa press release, posted on her website.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step, Jordan. But dark times await this young politico, or “Political Tool,” as AZCentral.com called her. She not only still works for Wrong on Red and ATS/Redflex via proxy, but she’s now listed at secretary for the group. If she was truly interested in advocating safe driving, she’d ditch the triangle of fraud that exists between her organization and the two vendors who make money by shortening yellow light times and lying about their products’ safety record.

Hibbs proudly boasts of her role with Astro-turfing Red Means Stop

Stick with these folks, Ms. Hibbs, and you can throw any hope of restoring integrity out the window. You’ll be longing for the days that you only had to apologize for buying some fake friends online.

Observe:

Year In Review: Redflex, ATS Beaten Down in 2013

WarOnDriving.com

2014 is here!

Alas, another year has gone by where drivers in 33 states were having their wallets drained by flashing boxes in intersections and creepy vans parked along the side of the road.

2013 also marked the largest and most widespread scandals the industry has ever been exposed for and it only promises to get worse for Redflex, American Traffic Solutions (ATS), Affiliated Computer Services (ACS – Xerox) and others in the new year.

In light of that good news, we bring you:

TOP 10 TRENDING SCAMERA STORIES OF 2013

10. License Plate Scanners Being Used in Red Light Cameras to track every driver

Although this little nugget of info has been known for years, the ACLU uncovered the widespread use of license plate scanners which were set to data mine every driver passing by, regardless of any suspicion that they were violating the law. In a year where blanket surveillance came under major fire, this was more ammo for motorists’ rights advocates to heavily criticize the dubious nature of red light cameras. Read more – [link]

9. Judge in Ohio Orders Refunds, Camera Seizures

A Cincinnati area Judge really put the hammer down hard on red light cameras in a nearby village. He ruled Elmwood Place and Optotraffic in contempt of court for continuing to issue photo tickets for months after he initially ruled them illegal.

Refunds were also ruled by Judge Ruelman and the cameras were to be seized. [read more]

8. $4.2 Million in Camera Ticket Refunds for New Jersey Drivers

American Traffic Solutions (ATS) were caught up in yet another multimillion dollar lawsuit, this time in the Garden State, where drivers were awarded over $4 Million in refunds. Why? So glad you asked. It’s because they were issuing red light camera tickets in 18 municipalities where they were actually illegal. Minor detail, of course. Read more – [link]

7. Michigan Kills Red Light Cameras Before They Go Up

We are proud to say that this website actually sounded the alarm in Michigan when a camera shill of a legislator was trying to sneak through a Red Light Camera bill back in May. Michigan Campaign for Liberty’s Tony DeMott lead the rally cry to successfully defeat the cameras before a single one could be installed. Thanks Tony!

6.  Protestor Arrested in Florida

Wayne Schmidter, a man who has had to defend himself from violations of his free speech in the past, was handing out flyers at an intersection with Red Light Cameras in Apopka, FL. An overzealous police officer demanded to see both his permit to hand out flyers and his ID, neither of which are required under any law in that jurisdiction. Schmidter answered he did not have either, nor did he need them and was then arrested. Amazingly, the Judge who heard Schmidter’s previous civil rights suit was eating at an establishment near by and ran out to tell the officer he’d better back down! Read more – [link]

5. Multiple States Move to Ban Photo Ticketing

State Legislatures in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Missouri and Ohio all advanced bills in their 2013 sessions to make red light cameras and photo radar completely illegal. Citizen backlash against the unconstitutional camera systems has demanded legislators file these bills – in some cases under major duress! Expect these states as well as others to take the issue up again in 2014. After all, the Cameras Are Coming Down!

4. Redflex Faces Massive Financial Troubles

Fallout from the bribery scandal in Chicago (don’t worry, that one’s coming too) crushed any expectations of staying above water that Redflex may have had. Shortly after it was announced that they were losing their contract in Chicago, Redflex put out a press release that detailed their grim fortunes to come – [link]

Later on in the year, the camera vendor announced that their profit had dropped a whopping 50 percent! Look out below! [read more]

3. Missouri Court System Condemns Red Light Cameras

Missouri courts spend the last 4 months of 2013 absolutely obliterating the state’s red light camera scheme. In September, they deemed that it violated due process. In November, the 2nd highest Court in Missouri ruled that red light camera programs are unenforceable and thus void. Later that month, the MO Appeals Court agreed and upheld that ruling. And in December, the MO Appeals Court ruled that red light cameras are unconstitutional!

2014 should be the end of red light cameras in Missouri and the court system, not legislature, will be the ones to thank for that.

2. Florida Caught Up in Yellow Light Time Shortening Scandal

And they say Journalism is dead in this country. One News Affiliate in Tampa Florida proved that it’s still alive in 2013 when they blew the doors wide open on a $50 Million dollar yellow light shortening scheme being carried out by American Traffic Solutions and several municipalities. They estimate that $50M figure is what’s been stolen by ATS by lowering yellow light duration to illegal and very dangerously short durations.

Thanks to WTSP (Tampa) for doing this great public service and the fallout continues to be felt across the state [read more]

1. Chicago-Redflex Bribery Scandal

And now the Granddaddy of them all and the scandal which rocked the entire mafia of photo ticketing, the Chicago Bribery Scandal. To prop up their $80M per year photo ticketing racket, a few palms need to be greased, right? Chicago is no stranger to this form of corruption, but the city never seen a scandal with bribery that tallied as much money as Redflex was dishing out, under the table.

[read more] from Chicago Tribune’s David Kidwell

In true Chicago style, the contract with Redflex, which was announced to be dead and gone in 2013, by Mayor Emanuel, has been quietly extended to January of 2014. When the Redflex cameras are finally shut off, and they will be, that company will plunge into multimillion dollar deficits from which it will be nearly impossible to dig out of. 2013 brought more citizen, lawmaker and court backlash against red light cameras and photo radar than ever before. It will only continue to grow and crescendo in 2014!

Happy New Year and keep motoring!

Redflex, ATS and PD License Plate Scanners Come Under Fire

Just as the Mayberry-ish Town Council in Paradise Valley sold their residents and visitors down the river to beleaguered Redflex Traffic Systems on a 5 year contract, media outlets are finally reporting on license plate scanners.

PV has agreed to install these scanners all over the town and they’re using Redflex to do it.

More from WarOnDriving.com:

Uncovered: License Plate Scanners Save, Store and Send Every Driver’s Info to DHS

Something more savvy motorists and privacy experts have known for years is finally being reported on.

Companies like American Traffic Solutions and Redflex, along with police agencies are scanning every driver’s license plate they come in contact with. That data is stored, saved for years in some cases and used for Federal data mining by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

It’s no surprise that (former) Secretary of DHS, Janet Napolitano would want to track innocent motorists and spy on their every day activities. Her now defunct freeway photo radar dragnet, installed and run by Redflex was performing that task on a massive scale in Arizona. She was quickly promoted to her post at DHS as “Big Sis,” which she resigned from last week ahead of what are likely to be major scandals brewing which will be far worse than this one.

Sadly, in Napolitano’s home state Arizona, some municipalities still have little regard for privacy, such as Paradise Valley. That town has just agreed to a 5 year contract extension with scandal-ridden Redflex Traffic Systems which will add license plate scanners to their data mining repertoire.

Hundreds of news outlets in the U.S. alone have reported on the findings by the ACLU that license plate data is stored for years by various municipalities, but one in Indianapolis spilled the beans that this info is being sent to DHS.

The video clip below paints a grim picture of out-of-control surveillance by police and private companies of innocent motorists.

Privacy experts like those at the ACLU want you to know that…

The Cameras Are Coming Down in Mesa

News last week out of Mesa via WarOnDriving.com

Another Arizona city is taking down their unpopular automated ticketing camera system.

This time it’s the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, which has a population of more than 400,000 residents. American Traffic Solutions has been issuing scamera tickets in Mesa intersections and via mobile devices since 2006. Their driver-distracting cameras and illegally parked radar vans are no longer welcome in the city after the Public Safety Committee voted to not renew the contract.

In 2011, a similar LAPD panel in Los Angeles voted to kick American Traffic Solutions out of that city as well. The main reasons given by the panel were that accidents had increased and most people who were sent the wallet-busting $500 citations by ATS simply ignored them.

It’s no surprise that Mesa would follow suit, given the public outcry about confusing intersection lines and the loss of due process. On the panel’s recommendation, the cameras will be torn out in 2014.

Mesa can look forward to their intersections being free from a private company with a profit motive spying on every motorist passing through.

Last summer residents spoke out on local news about the chaotic situation and uneven law enforcement for drivers:

No words from the ATS sockpuppets yet about their ouster. But it’s easy to assume their legal team and internet shills are going to  play their typical games with the media.

Karen Fann and Stan Barnes Capitol Circus Act – Insult Arizona Activists

From January 2009 through June of 2010, approximately 1,700 volunteers of Arizona motorists and concerned citizens launched an effort called “Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar” to push back on the unconstitutional and dangerous freeway photo radar system installed by Janet Napolitano after being approved in the budget proposal by Arizona Legislature.

Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar or ACAPR collected north of 130,000 signatures using a measly sum of just over $4,000 in donations which mostly came from individuals in the group itself. These facts are indisputable and corroborated by the AZ Secretary of State Office, who even did an audit of the donations. Why? Because they didn’t realize how badly Arizona government screwed up by allowing for a network of Redflex spy cameras to be installed on AZ interstates and highways. The blowback was somehow unanticipated.

They just couldn’t believe that citizens could really put that much energy into fighting them with nothing in return other than the satisfaction of working hard to preserve their rights.

They were wrong. The effort was overwhelming, though it didn’t qualify for the state’s tough standards to be placed on the ballot automatically. Jan Brewer caved in and canceled the state’s contract with Redflex, but refused to put the citizens initiative on the 2010 vote, when she had the power to easily do it.

The cameras on the freeways indeed came down. Since that time, members of the CameraFRAUD group have been demanding legislature do their job and ban the rest of Redflex and American Traffic Solutions’ automated ticketing machines.

Yesterday, Representative Karen Fann [contact], chair of the Transportation Committee and Stan Barnes [contact], American Traffic Solutions horse’s ass lobbyist teamed up to make a mockery of the committee process. And while they were at it, they insulted the intelligence of their fellow Arizonans and then danced a little jig all over the shredded remains of our state constitution.

After hearing from just two members of this group, pro-camera lobbyists were paraded up one by one, each more delusional than the next, thanks to Fann’s appetite for statist grand-standing.

Then came Stan Barnes, the highest paid lobbyist in the state of Arizona who shills for ATS. He began by mocking the effort to get rid of his company’s cameras and then repeated lie after lie. Lies so ridiculous that audible laughing could be heard from the chamber.

Barnes: “A well funded, out of state group launched a citizens initiative against the cameras that failed to make the ballot”

Chamber: *Laughter*

Barnes calling $4,000 in just over 18 months “well funded” and ACAPR “out of state,” is an absolute joke and an insult to the hard work of this group which is still paying dividends for defenders of citizens’ rights.

Barnes designer jeans began to visibly shake as nervousness set in after that little liar’s rant.

However Barnes was just “doing his job,” as depressing as that is for hard working Arizonans. And his salary, in terms of our $4,000, makes him the equivalent of Goldman Sachs, Chase Bank, B of A or any other corporate welfare recipient/bailout baron in the state of Arizona. Barnes is well paid for his acting.

So well paid, in fact, that he has plenty of cash every cycle to donate the max amount to Rep Karen Fann’s campaign, records show. So Fann allowed for seemingly endless debate on a 1/3 of a page bill (HB 2579) “Photo Radar Prohibition” and throughout the proceedings, informed the other 5 members of the committee just how to kill it.

The most blatant act was visibly talking Rep Sonny Borrelli out of voting for HB 2579, after he said during debates that he would vote to send it to the House floor (yes vote).

Fann was counting votes and saw that hers would be the decider, so she leaned over to Borrelli (the committee vice-chair) and told him he had to switch to a NO. Borrelli caved to her demand voted no on HB 2579 then saying, in an effort to clear his conscience “My mother is retired LAPD and will kill me for this vote. She saw how rear end collisions went up with the cameras and hates them too.” Borrelli placed his no vote, giving Fann the cover she needed.

And they really expect the voters in their districts not to see through all this.

Every member of the committee who voted no, effectively told their districts that their job was NOT TO REPRESENT THEM, but to leave that up to someone else back home. They must be confused about why they go to the state capitol each session.

Fann clearly doesn’t understand her role as chair and allowed Stan Barnes, The Redflex contingency and her vice chair to turn the Arizona House of Representative Transportation Committee into a circus act, complete with the horse dung smell.

Arizonans aren’t buying it and this bill is likely to find its way to the House floor for a vote despite Fann and Barnes best efforts.

Reminder: HB 2579 Goes to Committee Tomorrow

This is just a friendly reminder to all you enthusiasts of safe roads, rule of law and equal protection of said laws in Arizona.

The bill to ban the dangerous red light and photo radar cameras still littering the streets and intersections of multiple cities in Arizona gets its first vote of 2013 on Thursday.

Legislature foisted this system upon the motorists of our state and now it’s time for them to end it.

An excellent example of what your legislators want to hear was sent to us yesterday [link].

The Transportation Committee in the AZ House will debate and vote on HB 2579 tomorrow

You can copy/paste their emails from the list below. Your fellow Arizona motorists thank you!

kfann@azleg.gov, rgray@azleg.gov, vsteele@azleg.gov, bbarton@azleg.gov, sborrelli@azleg.gov, jescamilla@azleg.gov

Redflex and American Traffic Solutions Dirty Scheme for “Clean” Elections

There has been a lot of whining down at the state capitol in the last two weeks as anti-photo radar/red light camera activists have applied serious pressure on legislators to cosponsor and support HB 2579.

They’ve used every excuse in the book and here are some highlights:

“I don’t cosponsor any bills, that’s just my policy.”

“It doesn’t matter if a bill has cosponsors and you should leave it up to the bill sponsor to contact them.”

“If I cosponsor this bill, another legislator who doesn’t like me might kill the bill to even the score.”

“I really wanted to cosponsor, but I just couldn’t find the time to go over and sign my name on it before it was filed.”

“You’ve missed some (arbitrary or made up) deadline and I’m no longer allowed to sign on.”

“All the phone calls and emails are a turn off and you should really back off before you upset your reps and they vote against your bill.”

These are what we call excuses and poor ones at that.

The real deal is that your legislature is mostly bought and paid for by photo ticket money that funds their campaigns.

From WarOnDriving.com

The Redflex scandal in Chicago isn’t going away, any time soon. Politicians who may or may not be in bed with the camera vendor in other cities and states may claim that Chicago’s corruption doesn’t apply elsewhere.

Anyone using this excuse is either lying, ignorant or both.

Let’s take the entire state of Arizona as an example. More than 10 municipalities, such as Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Tucson, Chandler, Prescott Valley, Surprise, etc still use a combination of speed or red light cameras. Despite the fact that photo tickets sent by mail are not legally binding in Arizona, millions of dollars in fines are still collected.

10% of that money goes into a fund ironically called “clean elections,” which provides public funding to political campaigns, like members of the Arizona Senate and House of Representatives. These folks, not coincidentally, are responsible for allowing photo radar and red light cameras to litter the roads and scam Arizona motorists.

What’s also NOT a coincidence is that 80% of candidates for Arizona Legislature use “clean” election money to fund their campaigns. If you connect the dots, that means that Redflex and American Traffic Solutions fund their operation and basically own them. If a bill (currently HB 2579) to ban them passes, most of that clean election money will instantly vanish. The political gravy train would stop dead in its tracks and there would be quite a few state senators and reps scrambling to find a way to fund re-election in 2014.

Those are the hard facts and they’re undeniable. Chicago-style corruption with backdoor payola is still likely to be going on, but the scheme in Arizona is right there in plain sight.

[CONTINUE STORY]

HB 2579 Goes to Arizona House of Reps Transportation Committee on 2/21

From the CameraFRAUD meetup group:

Sunday, February 17, 2013 to Thursday, February 21, 2013, 7:00 AM

There’s no way to tell which order the chairman (Karen Fann) will schedule it, but the info is available here – [link]

This bill would make using ANY unmanned devices to issue traffic citations and fines illegal in the state of Arizona. That would mean all of Redflex and ATS’s scameras would come down and be shipped out to another state that still puts up with this unconstitutional racketeering.The best way you as an individual can help would be to swing by the House of Reps building at 1700 W Washington in Phoenix, sign into their system and register as a supporter of this bill. We understand that many of you couldn’t fit that into your schedules, so there’s another option…

The next best thing you could do is send a friendly email to every member of the transportation committee before Thursday and let them know why you personally want these cameras off your streets and traffic lights. They want to hear from you!

Spread the word far and wide that a bill to ban the scameras is once again making its way through Arizona Legislature. We’ve lost by just one vote the last two years, so any help we get could push us over the top this year!

Copy/paste the list below or email each individually:

kfann@azleg.gov, rgray@azleg.gov, vsteele@azleg.gov, bbarton@azleg.gov, sborrelli@azleg.gov, jescamilla@azleg.gov

The Photo Radar Prohibition Bill (HB 2579) will be voted on in the Arizona House of Reps Transportation Committee on Thursday February 21st.

The Axis of Fraud is Trying to Buy a Congressman in AZ

They already own countless city council members, mayors and state legislators so it only makes sense that the scamera lobby would want to move on up and buy themselves a brand new Congressman as well.

Given Ben Quayle’s penchant for posting photos all over the web for Nik Richie’s Dirty Scottsdale under an assumed identity, photo fraud vendors Redflex and American Traffic Solutions (ATS) were a perfect fit for campaign financiers to the little internet prankster turned Congressman.

George, “The Hitman” Hittner, executive general counsel of the mafia-like corporate leech, ATS (owned by Goldman Sachs), has thrown his support behind Quayle. Redflex’s Jay Heiler has been Quayle’s spokesman since his 2010 Congressional campaign.

Arizona should really be proud to be represented by such a creepy guy, who once faked having a family, just to seem somewhat normal compared to his internet persona, “Brock Landers.” Brock (also the name of a character from the almost-porn flick Boogie Nights) spent day and night posting pictures of women at Scottsdale night clubs in various stages of intoxication and undress.

Don’t let Brock, err Ben fool you, those days of what some conservatives in Arizona call “internet porn” really prepared him to be a “responsible adult” and cosponsor the SOPA bill which would shut down any website at the drop of a hat if the almighty DOJ didn’t fancy its content. One wonders if Ben’s old buddy Nik would get a pass even though he outed him 2 years ago. At least Nik was kind enough to wait until most of the early ballots had been returned so it wouldn’t cost Brock Ben the election.

Quayle, Hittner and Heiler – what a team!

Top 10 Scamera Stories of 2011

In our estimation, these were the ten biggest stories related to photo radar and red light cameras from around the U.S. in 2011

We hope you enjoy this look back at activism and politicians meeting head-to-head throughout the past year.

#10 – Texas legislature eliminates penalties for driving without a license plate

#9 –  Michael “Big Brother” Bloomberg calls for a “camera on every street corner

#8 – Mayor, Police Chief Take Down Colorado Springs Red Light Cameras

#7 – Redflex’s Gamble Backfires, Sale to Macquarie/Carlyle Canceled, Stock Plunges

#6 – Peoria Red Light Cams Finally Come Down After 3 Yrs of Increased Accidents

#5 – Redflex Kicked Out of Tempe Arizona Over Cash Grab Lawsuit

#4 – 15 Simultaneous Red Light Camera Protests in Florida

#3 – Voters Kick Red Light Cameras Out of 7 Cities in 3 States on Election Day

#2 – Houston City Council Votes 11-1 to Ban Red Light Cameras

#1 – Activists Convice LAPD Comission and LA City Council to Take Cameras Down