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!

WarOnDriving.com: AZ: Peoria Shuts Off Red Light Cameras, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley Next?

Arizona cities are dropping their so-called “photo enforcement” traffic cameras in a flurry in 2011.

The latest is Peoria, where camera intersections such as 83rd Ave and Thunderbird (above picture) saw tremendous increases in accidents. City officials are now claiming that overall there was a 29% increase over the three year life span of the program, but much larger increases (300-500%) were recorded initially.

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Come Visit Beautiful Fascist Arizona

Arizona is a place where natural beauty, historic traditions, and modern conveniences combine to offer a fun medium-grade police state for people of all ages. Come visit Arizona this Father's Day; temporary entry permits are limited during the summer! - HRM Janice Brewer.

//Press Release//
//Ministry of Truth and Advertising//
//Arizona State Government//

Father’s Day: A Valleywide Guide to the Police State

sponsored by Corrections Corporation of America – We Know Fathers™ 

Mesa is well-known for its climate– perfect for serene and beautiful hiking adventures–, as well as its championship police brutality competitions. The community’s mix of entertaining activities (dancing requires a permit) and friendly (yet suspicious) residents makes visitors want to return again and again… (if you’re not arrested for a crime and held indefinitely.) Mayor doubles as a puppet for land developers and lobbyists (appointments and gloves available in City Hall, call (480) 644-2011).

Scottsdale might be known for having the largest and most prestigious mall in the southwest, but did you know Taser International calls this quaint bedroom community home? Taser Monthly says Scottsdale’s warm, summer nights and all-monkey police force make the “Most Livable City” an ideal nightspot for an electrifying, 100,000 volt adventure! Or, visit the Scottsdale City Kangaroo Court for a good laugh. (by alternate service invitation only, $0-$500).

Phoenix wouldn’t be complete without a tour of the Redflex headquarters just minutes north of the valley. Once a thriving example of surveillance-state technology, the company now offers donkey tours through its United States headquarters. Children’s activities include “My First Ticket,” an interactive game where your special little ones can mail out a real fake ticket! 23751 N 23rd Ave # 150
Phoenix, AZ 85085-1858, (480) 607-0705 (Ask for Shoba)

Pinal County comes through just in time for Father’s Day with Sheriff Babeu’s “Day With Daddy in Detention.” Iris, facial, finger/foot/dental prints, and DNA sequencing are all included in this free introduction to the county jail system. FREE – Funding provided by Homeland Security Grants.

Border Zone checkpoints don’t have to be near a border, so please be compliant and complicit. Docile and harmless unless told where the border is, these agents helpfully find lost items in passing cars and provide general protection to the public in removing hazardous and “inactivated” foods (possession of organic, “raw,” or “bitch punk-ass food” is a capital offense in the Grand Canyon State (SB 1081, Bitch Punk-Ass Food Prohibition of 2011, (R)- Pearce, Mesa.)

Pima County knows how to take force too far. This county executes good fathers with bad warrants. Blood-curling shootings always in season, enough to make an avid fascist sick, for discerning authoritarian psychopaths only (or current office-holders).

 

Majority of Scottsdale Council Candidates Will Vote Against Red Light Cameras

CameraFRAUD volunteers have made phone calls to all the candidates for the 3 open City Council seats in Scottsdale. Their opinions on Red Light Scameras were taken and most are opposed to them. Could a new perspective on this obvious scam be coming to Scottsdale? Maybe.

Scottsdale voters, please make sure you make the right choices in November and send people to represent you that understand red light cameras are not only a scam, but also dangerous. Below are the 7 choices you have and their opinions on Redflex and ATS automated ticketing machines:

Bob Littlefield – As a city council member he voted against the cameras and would continue to do so.

AGAINST Cameras

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

Dennis Robbins – As a previous city council member he voted against the cameras and would continue to do so.

AGAINST Cameras

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

Sean Sheperd – He opposes the cameras would not vote to renew the contract.

AGAINST Cameras

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

Guy Phillips – Would vote no for the cameras and is in favor of looking into alternate measures to slow traffic such as speed feedback signs.

AGAINST Cameras

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

Ned O’Hearn – “If there have been a lot of accidents and it is really the only way that they can control the traffic and put people on alert, then I think it is a good thing. If it is just out there to basically to get a few speeding tickets to fill the city coffers then I don’t support it.”

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

Wayne Ecton – Thinks the cameras are a great thing and is opposed to citizens voting on the cameras. Feels the police and the city are entitled to do whatever they feel is necessary to have citizens abide by the law.

SCAMERA Supporter

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

Linda Milhaven – Is in favor of the cameras.

SCAMERA Supporter

Bombshell: ‘Countless’ Served Tickets May Be Invalid

CameraFRAUD Demands FBI Investigation
Media Inquiries: media@camerafraud.com

Attorney and CameraFRAUD member Michael Kielsky has uncovered potentially damning information regarding photo enforcement process service within Arizona.

The revelation? Widespread, illegal certificates of service, admittedly completed by office workers instead of the actual server.

Developing…

Just got back from court with another Photo Radar case win — but how I won “shocked” even me.

The case was set for a process server hearing, and the process server was there, seemed to remember the service, and otherwise was a credible witness, leaving me little room to challenge the service.

I then asked if he had notes from the day of service, which he confirmed, and I asked if I could see them. I compared his notes to the certificate of service, and saw that some of the demographic specifics were off (the height was 5″ off, the age was specific instead of the range in the notes, the weight was off by 5 lbs.).

I then asked him about the differences (in that, more than anything else, the height seemed significant).

Bombshell alert:

He answered that he sends his notes in to the process service office, and then someone there fills out the certificate of service with all the details, and adds a digitized image of his signature, and the files it.

My jaw hit the desk. I asked him to confirm that the certificate was completed from his notes, and that he did not review it before it was signed, under penalty of perjury, with his digitized signature, and he confirmed, and said that’s the way they always do it, in 10’s of thousands of cases.

I argued to the judge that I had no issue with the digitized signature, but that the certificate of service was void, as it was completed and signed without his review, and it did not accurately reflect his own notes regarding the service.

The judge questioned the process server some more about this process, and, among other things, he admitted, that, well yes, for eviction service, that’s not how they do it, but for photo radar they do.

Case dismissed.

UPDATE: The FBI is the agency assigned to investigate public and judicial fraud. Their contact information is as follows. We encourage any reader who feels they may be a victim of false service to immediately file a report.

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Special Agent Nathan T. Gray
201 East Indianola Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85012
Phone: (602) 279-5511
Fax: (602) 650-3204
E-mail: phoenix@ic.fbi.gov

Australian Media Slams Redflex

It’s hard to find a mainstream media piece as perfect as this one. Enjoy the video and post your comments below.

Good: The lovely Tracy Grimshaw of A Current Affair asks the question of automated ticketing: “Life savers or just revenue raising cash cows?” CameraFRAUD as well as FireRedflex.com are mentioned in the story.

Better:

Quotes from the video: “Governments all around the world are in a lot of debt, they have to raise more money, and what better place to raise money than from penalties and speeding fines.”

“The cars are unmarked and there’s no warning sign until after you’ve driven past, and even then it’s tiny.”

REPORTER: “What do you do to pass the time when you’re sitting in here?”

REDFLEX DRIVER: “We watch the instrument.”

REPORTER: “And you need all three of you in here to do that?”

REDFLEX DRIVER: “That’s correct… at the moment…”

Best: The closing video of the UK show ‘Top Gear’ using a vehicle-mounted rocket launcher to take out a Gatso scam cam.

Oh, (no) Snap! Red Light for Red Light Cams

Orlando, Florida is now potentially on the hook for over $4 million in refunds after a judge rules the ticketing scheme to be invalid.

LaserCraft was the initial vendor for Orlando, until American Traffic Solutions purchased the Georgia company in June of this year. ATS has automated ticketing operations throughout Central and South Florida, as well as a vested interest in tolling.

In a rare example of honor among thieves, Redflex has refused to operate cameras in the Sunshine State, calling such operations “illegal.” (Update: No such thing as honor among thieves; Redflex proceeded to bid on contracts in Homestead, FL despite their own securities statement acknowledging such schemes to be illegal.)

Video: MyFoxOrlando: Red light cameras violate law.

ATS Leaves Building Unlocked, Open

A corporate security breach at American Traffic Solutions was uncovered by CameraFRAUD volunteers Saturday night. The photo radar ticket processing facility, located in the Phoenix-suburb of Ahwatukee, was left unlocked and unattended.

Numerous bundles of network cables were spotted throughout the building, potentially allowing anyone with a laptop to access internal systems containing vital “chain of evidence” data. A dozen trashcans full of unshredded documents were spotted, possibly containing  sensitive data on their “customers:” so-called “violators” who are accused of triggering the automated ticketing machines.

All about the money, as always

Coming soon: “Going out of Business Sale”?

File storage… contents unknown

Side offices for management appear occupied

Motivational posters always help when firing employees

Is ATS hiring children to process tickets?

In addition, a strange childlike drawing was left on one wall, apparently detailing the flow of money involving notices of violation, Hertz rent-a-car (an ATS partner in toll road technology), and local police departments. While the crudely-drawn stick figures don’t mention safety, it’s clear the corporate hieroglyphics were used to emphasize revenue and money.

ATS has a history of leaving important things unlocked. A year ago in March 2009, CameraFRAUD discovered automated ticketing boxes at intersections left unlocked and open. ATS responded by installing cameras to —yes— watch the cameras at certain locations in Mesa.

In case you’re wondering why it looks like they’re leaving the building, ATS is downsizing to a smaller processing center on nearby Southern Avenue. Industry sources report plummeting toll road revenue, as well as a sharp increase in resistance to the company’s products and services. Litigation, class-action lawsuits, and canceled contracts nationwide are just the beginning.

Scottsdale Strikes Again! Another Innocent Victim of Photo Radar

In a follow-on to previous articles about the burden of erroneous photo tickets on the innocent, another innocent driver has had to resort to the local media to resolve a problem with an erroneous ticket. Eleven years ago, Terry Fox received a photo ticket from Scottsdale for a car he no longer owned. Terry dutifully filled out the form saying it wasn’t his and heard nothing back (which is typical). Eleven years later, the City of Scottsdale is demanding to be paid.

But the City of Scottsdale was no help in resolving this issue. Terry reports that “The girl at the window told me, suggested, that I pay that ticket and she said my driver’s license was probably already suspended on it.” He had to resort to calling 12 For Action in order to resolve this matter.

Thanks to this failure in the Scottsdale photo enforcement system, Terry was now forced to request an evidentiary hearing and then report to court for the hearing in order to clear the matter. When the judge checked the file for evidence, none was found.

Terry got his money back, but at the expense of spending many hours of frustration trying to resolve the issue, miles of driving to the courts and to the city, and possible time off of work to attend the court hearing.

For those who say, “Don’t speed and you have nothing to worry about,” think again. Terry didn’t speed and he had plenty to worry about and deal with.

Just like the designer of the novelty plate ‘N JOY AZ’, who is frequently accused of speeding and running red lights in places he has never been. Or the couple in Wyoming who tells us that Redflex has trouble telling the difference between a Wyoming truck and a car license plate and hasn’t been to Arizona in decades. Or the 600 unfortunate victims of Scottsdale’s faulty equipment.

Many more examples of equipment malfunction and erroneous tickets can be found at PhotoRadarScam.com.

Guilty! And You Didn’t Even Know It

An injustice to one is an injustice to all

Your license could be suspended and you may not even know it. In yet another colossal failure of photo enforcement, you may have been cited with a traffic citation and never been notified. Since you didn’t pay the ticket you didn’t know about, some judge suspended your license when you didn’t show up to court for the hearing you didn’t know about.

This is an increasing epidemic in they city of Scottsdale, where photo enforcement has been in place for years.

This week, KPHO reports on Elizabeth Vaughan, who recently lost a job because a background check revealed a suspended license due to a photo radar ticket from 10 years ago that she was never notified of.

On September 29, 2009 AZFamily’s 3 on your side segment reported that Patty Parker found out that her license was suspended when Phoenix police pulled her over and told her that her license was suspended. Research revealed that a judge suspended her license after Patty failed to respond to 4 mailed tickets that she never received, despite no Declaration of Service ever being filed.

On September 5, 2009 KPHO reported on Ken Lind, whose license was suspended after he was ticketed in April 2000 without his knowledge and without being served. Lind has already spent hundreds of dollars getting his record cleansed and license reinstated.

Like a broken record, Scottsdale spokesman never seem to have an explanation. Officials insist that the purpose of photo enforcement is safety. But if people are never notified, how is it supposed to have any effect on how people drive? The biggest fallacy associated with photo enforcement is the belief that notifying people weeks, months, or years after they’ve violated a law will have an effect on their habits and behavior.

More importantly, is this how the people of Scottsdale and surrounding communities wish to be governed? Is unknowingly suspending people’s licenses really going to be effective at keeping our roads safe? Is this the burden we wish ourselves and others to suffer just so cities can make a few extra million dollars? The people of Scottsdale and its visitors deserve better. Cops, not cameras!