Redflex, ATS and PD License Plate Scanners Come Under Fire

July 18, 2013

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…

image


Arizona senators using a Redflex lobbyist’s false arguments

March 4, 2011

Just as many members of the US House and Senate don’t understand the constitution, it seems many members of Arizona legislature have the same struggles with our state version.

The argument against SB1352, the Photo Radar Prohibition Bill most used by the Republicans who voted against it seems to be coming straight from Redflex: “The state shouldn’t tell the cities what to do.”

<read more>


Do You NOT Miss Me Yet?

November 29, 2010

Let’s be honest, Arizona owes an apology to the rest of the country. We knew how ugly things get when Janet is in charge, but quietly letting her leave AZ for DC without a stern warning was a big mistake. Now it’s too late for that, but there’s still time to remind everyone just how poor of a track record this “public servant” has.

During what was an obvious bubble in the Arizona economy due to real estate prices skyrocketing, then Governor Napolitano decided it would be a great idea to spend every single dime possible and put Arizona on the hook for years to come with terrible budgeting. When it was time to pay the tab, she put spy cameras all over our freeways, in an attempt to “make $90 Million” in her own words, not ours. That program was a complete and utter failure, but Janet didn’t care because she had left the nightmare she created behind.

Unfortunately, now the entire country is reaping the whirlwind of this woman who makes decisions on a whim and covers up obvious failures with laughable lines like “the system worked” – when referring to last year’s attempted “underwear bombing.” The man with the bomb in his pants was only foiled by an alert passenger after easily passing through security. What exactly worked there Janet?

Maybe she was referring to things working out quite nicely for Michael Chertoff, then head of the Transportation Security Administration, now commonly called TSA, who used the underwear bomber as an excuse to order the very expensive so-called backscatter x-ray machines which show very graphic images of the genitalia and body composition of every person passing through them. Chertoff is now sitting pretty as the head of the company whose main client, Rapiscan, manufactures the machines and is making a fortune.

What has ensued since the main stream media grabbed  a hold of this story has been nothing less than a complete embarrassment, the likes of which a Federal Agency may have never seen before. Images mocking the TSA for being perverted are long in supply all over the internet and growing in numbers. The catalyst for the story moving so quickly in to center focus was the accompanying controversy over the new and highly invasive pat downs, in which a TSA agent is trained to grope innocent airline passengers, feeling once off limit body parts like breasts and genitalia.

Even Congressman Ron Paul, who visited Arizona this month, described a situation in which a TSA agent touched his privates while mocking him for being subject to the search in the first place. This is really a sick situation and frankly, Americans have had enough. The Drudge Report picked up the TSA body scanner/groping story first from a mainly online radio show hosted by Alex Jones of Austin, TX. Jones had been warning for months that the new procedures were coming to an airport near you.

Because of Drudge repeatedly pushing this story and creating so many hits on related search terms, it went “mega viral” and could not be ignored by the likes of CNN, Fox News and MSNBC along with every other legacy media conglomerate.

What has Napolitano, now frequently referred to as “Big Sis” had to say about all this? She continues to act as if there is nothing wrong with naked images and groping. That’s fine for a producer of pornographic films, but Big Sis is supposed to be a serious leader who is in charge of The United States Department of Homeland Security which presides over the TSA. She seems to think the 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution is forfeited with the purchase of an airline ticket. It’s tough to say it about someone in such a high post, but she comes across as completely clueless.

Maybe we Arizonans should have fought to keep her from going to D.C. but it was just too tempting to wave goodbye and hope for the best. Calls  for her resignation are once again surfacing, just as they had after her ridiculous comments about the system working on the underwear bomber.

The TSA has quickly fallen out of favor with millions of Americans and several airports may seek alternatives. Some airports in California are being patrolled by Police who are looking for TSA agents that commit what is being called sexual assault during the groping pat downs. They have been ordered to arrest these agents if their conduct is inappropriate. The notion that the TSA keeps us safe is a false premise if they need Police officers constantly watching them.

Just as we in Arizona had to do with the photo radar spy cameras littering our freeways, Americans are learning to stand up against ridiculous “safety measures” that are only designed to use fear to sell expensive equipment and make money for a private company on the backs of taxpayers and travelers.

The parallels are unmistakable and the next move is clear. Send Janet packing.


15-0 and Paradise Valley is Next to GO!

November 8, 2010

With all five ballot initiatives to ban scameras across the country being upheld, it looks like the word is getting out on a national level that photo ticketing programs are not wanted by the people. In fact, all 15 times photo ticketing has gone to a public vote, it has been banned by the citizens.

Paradise Valley Hidden Scamera Van

CameraFRAUD volunteers who collected signatures on election day (November 2nd) for the initiative to Ban Photo Ticketing and Redflex in Paradise Valley can tell you first-hand that residents of that town don’t want the scam on their streets either.

The Washington Times just posted an editorial about the issue and the fact that Big Brother keeps losing at the ballot box.

Excerpt:

It’s time for elected officials to park the photo-radar vans and pull down the intersection spy cameras. Aside from a gullible minority, you’re not fooling anyone. Republicans, Democrats and independents rarely agree on issues of public policy, but on this they speak with one voice. State legislatures in Arkansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin have listened to the people and adopted statewide laws prohibiting automated enforcement. It’s time for the rest of the states to give Big Brother his walking papers.


Paradise Valley PD Does Not Review Photo Tickets

September 23, 2010

Leave it to a Judge endorsed by Janet Napolitano to give a foreign corporation yet another excuse to operate illegally while claiming to be law enforcement.

Larry King (no not that one), a Judge who was in Paradise Valley’s Town Council Meeting, blurted out “what you have done is deputize Redflex.” This was after PV’s current Chief of Police admitted that their officers never review photo tickets before they are sent out to alleged violators.

CameraFRAUD would like to know which Redflex employee was sworn in and took an oath to achieve deputy status.

When it comes to Redflex’s backwards version of justice, this is what passes for oversight: Letting their own employees audit the tickets.

As if that weren’t enough to raise some red flags about the scameras in PV, former mayor and current council member Vernon Parker pointed out that the accident trend in his town is up and down which conflicts with all the reports that cameras = safer roads. He also questioned why scam vans are usually hidden, as seen in the below picture.

Hidden Redflex talivan causes driver distraction

Those are great questions, but the answer is that Redflex is trying to make a profit and will not let facts and driver safety stand in their way.

If you’ve come across this article after researching Paradise Valley as a resort destination – it really is a beautiful place, as long as you don’t mind being surveilled at just about every major intersection and the town along with Redflex playing “Gotcha” by hiding photo radar vans in the bushes.


Paradise Valley (Former) Police Chief Advocates for Redflex; Discredited

September 17, 2010

John Wintersteen, the former Chief of Police of Paradise Valley was the guest of honor at the Scamera Summit Luncheon in January, where he was asked by Redflex and ATS to file a petition to subvert due process in Arizona which would make the photo ticketing scam more profitable.

On Thursday, he debated CameraFRAUD on Fox 10 and exposed himself as the Redflex advocate that he is, calling them “an upstanding company.” Watch as his arguments fall apart one by one.

Enjoy!


3 on 1 Photo Radar Debate

September 11, 2010

Any good debate will have equal time for all sides, except this one. Try debating two scamera apologists by yourself while the moderator is clearly on the side of the opposition.

Two things clearly rang out from this debate.

1. Only the studies that he claims favor photo radar and red light cameras count to Professor Pendyala. He doesn’t even have time to consider any others.

2. The Mayor of Paradise Valley, Scott LeMarr knew the people of his town detest the scameras and that Redflex is a band of crooks. Now he knows that PV has more than its share of accidents because photo enforcement causes erratic driving.

Enjoy!

…meanwhile, on one of those “main arteries”….


Paradise Valley Town Council: A Simple Solution

September 1, 2010

Paradise Valley Town Council is holding their normally scheduled meeting on Thursday Afternoon, starting at 3 pm. If you’re wondering, the address is 6401 E Lincoln Dr, Paradise Valley, Az 85253. CameraFRAUD volunteers will be there to collect signatures for the initiative to ban photo ticketing in Paradise Valley.

Oh and what a coincidence, it seems that very initiative is on the the slate for the meeting:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

We have a very simple solution to this issue: Let’s do the right thing and take the cameras down in Paradise Valley. That would save the most time, money and is the safest option. However, if it needs to go to the voters, we’ve already seen how popular our initiative is at the polling places. 1,500+ signatures isn’t that far away!


Paradise Regained Election Day Signature Gathering

August 20, 2010

It’s time to bring the cameras down in Paradise Valley! The initiative paperwork will be filed for Paradise Valley this week which means it’s time for us to get out and start collecting signatures! For Paradise Valley we need about 1150 valid signatures.

Our plan is to gather most if not all of the signatures by getting signatures at polling places for the primary election on Aug 24, and we NEED your help! This will be the easiest and best opportunity to reach out to known-good, registered Paradise Valley voters.

IN ADDITION TO COLLECTING SIGNATURES – we will ask voters to collect signatures for us and give them signature sheets with instructions to mail in to us to help multiply our efforts.

Details are on the Meetup page. Please visit the page and RSVP ASAP! The $10 cost is OPTIONAL and helps pay for a petition gathering t-shirts.


Paradise Regained

August 5, 2010

Dear Redflex,

We’re coming.

Sincerely,

CameraFRAUD


%d bloggers like this: