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Speed cameras I can (kind of) understand, but what possible reasonable explanation could they have for blocking red light camera installation?


Many people oppose automated law enforcement in (almost) all forms.


Why, for this specific case?


Taking devil’s advocate here, but people claim that automated enforcement has equity concerns, privacy concerns and immigration concerns. Again, these aren’t my arguments, but:

There’s concern that automated enforcement is a regressive punishment that unduly burdens low-income motorists. There’s a belief that these cameras will be concentrated in low-income or minority neighborhoods.

The privacy concerns are fairly obvious, people are concerned the government is building a database of vehicle locations.

And the immigration concerns are that information could be fed back to ICE to detain undocumented immigrants.

However if you read the enabling legislation, a lot of these concerns are addressed through data retention, data sharing and safety standards (i.e. tickets can only be issued at 9 MPH over the limit and there must be a warning sign.)

I also think an unspoken part of the opposition is some people feel they can talk a cop out of writing a ticket, but they can’t argue with a machine.




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