Man Killed While Operating Redflex Speed Enforcement Van As Backlash Against State Program Intensifies
CBS/AP April 27, 2009
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - The debate over the first statewide speed camera enforcement program in the nation has reached a boiling point following the fatal shooting of a camera operator.
Critics of Arizona's program condemned the killing but vow they'll continue to fight what they call unfair and overly intrusive government. Supporters of the program say camera opponents have inflamed the public, and that the speed cameras have made highways safer.
Doug Georgianni, 51, was killed on April 19, as he operated a speed-enforcement van on a Phoenix freeway. Thomas Patrick Destories, a 68-year-old Phoenix man, is being held in Maricopa County jail on a first-degree murder charge in the death. He has declined to comment.
According to court documents, Georgianni was sitting in the van when Destories allegedly pulled around the vehicle and fired multiple gunshots, reports CBS affiliate KPHO-TV in Phoenix.
Authorities haven't said what they believe the motive might be, but said the two men had never met. Many simply assume the killing was the latest and most extreme backlash against Arizona's photo-enforcement program.
Arizonans have used sticky notes, Silly String and even a pickax to sabotage the cameras since September when they began snapping photos of highway speeders driving 11 mph or more over the speed limit.
State lawmakers have proposed two bills to do away with the cameras, and three separate citizens groups are targeting them in initiatives for the 2010 ballot.
"The conversation on everyone's mind in Arizona is the photo radar killing. That's what everyone is talking about," said Shawn Dow, a volunteer with the citizens group CameraFRAUD.com.
CameraFRAUD.com is the largest and most organized of the groups going after the cameras. Its initiative would ban photo-enforcement cameras throughout Arizona, including those in the statewide program and those run by individual municipalities, such as red light cameras in Tempe.
Dow said the Arizona Department of Public Safety and camera operator RedFlex Traffic Systems Inc. put Georgianni in danger by having him in a marked law enforcement vehicle even though he was a civilian.
"They're putting these people in marked police vehicles that are civilians that have no training, no way to defend themselves," Dow said. "We should have trained police officers - cops, not cameras."
DPS spokesman Lt. James Warriner said the department is working with RedFlex to decide how the vans will operate in the future, and that they may be unmanned.
The speed vans were pulled from Arizona freeways Monday; fixed cameras are still operating.
Warriner said critics have blamed his agency for the killing "when all we're doing is administering a program that was mandated by state Legislature and the former governor.
"Because of (critics') vocalness, you could almost say they've led to this, too - because of their protests, the encouragement of people to strike out," he said.
Warriner said Georgianni's killing will not stop photo enforcement.
Karen Finley, president and chief executive officer of RedFlex, said in a statement that the company is being "deliberative and prudent" in its review of establishing criteria to redeploy mobile speed cameras. She declined to comment further.
Republican Rep. Sam Crump of Anthem, who is seeking to ban speed cameras on state highways, condemned Georgianni's killing.
"While we don't know at this time what the motives were for this senseless killing, many have understandably speculated that it was due to anger against the speed cameras," he said in a statement the day after the killing. "To the extent there is any truth to that, I call on all individuals to reduce the war of words on this topic. Whatever the motives for this crime were, there is absolutely no justification for such a heinous act."
The photo-enforcement program was launched under former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano.
Civil violations are punishable by a fine and surcharges totaling $181. Through Jan. 31, 34,000 motorists had paid their tickets.
Tyler Bennett, a 23-year-old Glendale resident who recently got a photo radar ticket on a Phoenix-area freeway, said he's against the speed cameras but he was "dumbfounded" when he heard about the killing.
"That really kind of hit me, to be honest," he said. "It's kind of fun to dog on the whole photo radar thing, but this whole thing is completely different."
He said he doesn't think DPS, RedFlex or critics of photo enforcement are to blame - just the person who pulled the trigger.
Comments 106
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"It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that." - Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, and Jes Beard, attorney at law in Chattanooga, How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR
APRIL FOOLS DAY - A Senate panel on Tuesday blew the whistle on Chattanooga officials’ hopes of using traffic cameras to crack down on speeders along a stretch of Interstate 24 slicing through Missionary Ridge and other areas.
Senate Transportation Committee members unanimously approved the bill by Sen. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville. As amended, it now bans state or local governments from using photo-enforcement cameras to catch speeders on federal interstates.
“These are basically fee grabbers and, so far as I’m concerned, they’re speed traps,” Sen. Burchett said of moves in recent years by cities including Chattanooga to expand use of photo enforcement of motorists violating red-light laws and speeders. “We don’t need them in Tennessee.”
The bill creates an exception, allowing the state Department of Transportation to deploy photo enforcement to nab speeders at interstate work sites.
Several Transportation Committee members including Sen. Ken Yager, R-Harriman, expressed interest in expanding the ban to state highways including those in cities.
“I have received numerous complaints from the citizens,” Sen. Yager said.
Sen. Burchett said he would prefer not to do that, noting, “I believe some folks would have some opposition.” But he did not rule out accepting such an amendment when the measure reaches the Senate floor.
Chattanooga officials attended the meeting, fearing Sen. Burchett would carry through with the original intent of the bill, which was to lengthen yellow lights to five seconds at photo-enforced intersections. At Sen. Burchett’s request, the panel rewrote the bill with an amendment containing the federal interstate provision.
Later, City Traffic Engineer John W. Van Winkle said he was pleased the yellow light issue appeared resolved, saying clearances should not be set by “artificially high clearance” times but “based on engineering analysis.”
See also:
"It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that." - Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, and Jes Beard, attorney at law in Chattanooga, How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR
"Officials" (public servants) from Maryland, Missouri and Tennessee joined indicted Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich (D) at a two-day event designed to promote the use of speed cameras on freeways throughout the country. In 2006, Illinois became the first state government to implement a statewide photo ticketing program. This effort was soon copied by Arizona, Colorado and Washington state, each of which also sent participants to yesterday's "highway safety workshop." Officials attending heard about how successful these programs have been at imposing automated tickets worth up to $1000 each.
Governor Blagojevich said that the consultants are telling him that he has to "suck it up" for two years and do nothing and give this "motherfucker Obama his senator. Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him." Rod Blagojevich states that he will put Senate Candidate 4 in the Senate "before I just give Fucking Senate Candidate 1 a Fucking Senate seat and I don't get anything." Blagojevich stated “I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden, and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for fuckin’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there.” During the call, Rod Blagojevich's wife can be heard in the background telling Rod Blagojevich to tell Deputy Governor A "to hold up that fucking Cubs shit - fuck them." She also stated that Tribune Owner can “just fire” the writers because Tribune Owner owns the Tribune, and if Tribune Owner’s papers were hurting his business, Tribune Owner would do something about the editorial board. Blagojevich told Deputy Governor A to put together the articles in the Tribune that are on the topic of removing Blagojevich from office and they will then have someone, like John Harris, go to Tribune Owner and say, “We’ve got some decisions to make now.” Governor Blagojevich said that “someone should say, ‘get rid of those people.' Our recommendation is fire all those fucking people, get ‘em the fuck out of there and get us some editorial support.”
"One of the keys to this success has been the photo speed enforcement vans that have deployed by IDOT and the Illinois State Police," Blagojevich said in a prepared statement about the event, before his own arrest on corruption charges.
The participation of Missouri and Tennessee officials has revealed their states' interest in using automated ticketing machines on freeways.
Although Illinois currently uses photo radar vans only in highway work zones, indicted criminal Blagojevich is working on legislation that would lift all restrictions and authorize deployment on every freeway in the state. The governor first sold the program as essential to "protecting highway workers." Now that the program is in place, it is a simpler legislative task to expand its scope. This strategy, however, did not work for Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D). Squabbling between state and local lawmakers regarding distribution of profits from a work zone camera program sunk a proposal that had passed both the state House and Senate earlier this year -- despite lavish lobbying efforts by Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), the private company in charge of the Illinois program. Connecticut's governor also failed in efforts to convince state lawmakers to approve freeway speed cameras.
Criminal felon Blagojevich is especially desperate to expand the program beyond work zones because experience has shown that lowered ticket fines issued at a higher volume would generate much more revenue. A Chicago Tribune investigation found that Cook County judges have been unwilling to uphold the state's pricey $375 automated fines for a first offense and $1000 with 90-day license suspension for the second. Despite issuing 3478 tickets in the county with a face value of at least $1,304,250, the state ended up pocketing a small fraction of this amount. More than half of the fines were thrown out entirely, often because photos did not clearly identify the driver -- a necessary step because these tickets also carry license points. In the remaining cases, judges refused to impose the massive fines on all but five percent of ticket recipients.
Although Illinois mafiya officials insist their primary interest has always been to protect workers from accidents caused by speeding drivers, studies show that only 15 percent of freeway construction zone injuries are actually caused by automobiles. The vast majority of work zone "vehicle" accidents were found to involve workers injured by their own construction equipment. An unreleased 2005 UK Department for Transportation report showed that the use of conventional speed cameras in construction zones caused a 55 percent increase in collisions.
See also:
How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR - "It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that. What the legal system wants you to do is just send in the fine and not ask any questions. This can be a big money maker for some communities. One other form of defense to utilize on your behalf is the fact that when you are accused in court you must be faced by your accuser. Obviously the computer cannot appear in court as a defense method for the prosecution. Also, you do not have to identify yourself as the driver of the vehicle because it would violate your sixth amendment rights against self incrimination." - Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, and Jes Beard, attorney at law in Chattanooga, Tennessee, JesBeard.com
Indictment of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on Corruption Charges with 76-page affidavit and $7 million scheme aimed at squeezing kickbacks out of companies seeking business from the state. Governor George Ryan, a Republican, is serving a 6-year prison sentence after being convicted on racketeering and fraud charges. A decade-long investigation began with the sale of driver's licenses for bribes and led to the conviction of dozens of people who worked for Ryan when he was secretary of state and governor.
Blagojevich Offers Senate Seat to Arresting Officer - In what is being called one of the most daring escape attempts in the history of law enforcement, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich today offered the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama to the FBI agent who took him into Federal custody this morning. According to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the astonishing escape attempt occurred moments after Mr. Blagojevich was handcuffed by the agent, who was wearing a wire and captured the entire expletive-laden offer on tape. "'You can be the [bleeping] junior Senator from [bleeping] Illinois if you let me out of these [bleeping] handcuffs,'" Mr. Fitzgerald read from a transcript. "'And if that mother-[bleeper] Barack Obama tries to [bleep] with me, I'll [bleep] him up.'" According to Mr. Fitzgerald, "When I say 'bleep,' he didn't really say 'bleep' on the tape," adding, "I'm going to keep making that joke until one of you [bleepers] laughs at it." Gov. Blagojevich has been charged with a laundry list of Federal crimes, including stealing his haircut from the dad on "The Brady Bunch."
A plan to put East Tennessee's first speed camera into operation in Morristown on Monday was delayed by snow.
Police Chief Roger Overholt says he thinks the camera, which is a speed and red light camera, will go into operation at the intersection of College Square Mall and Crockett Square later this week.
Plus, the city will soon have four more cameras at these four intersections:
W. Andrew Johnson Highway and Highway 160, W. Andrew Johnson Highway and Morris Boulevard, Morris Boulevard and Cumberland Street, Morris and Haun Drive, near the mall.
The police department says those four cameras are expected to be up and running by the end of February.
For the first 30 days, drivers who violate speed limits or run red lights at these intersections will get warning letters.
After that, $104 citations will be issued for anyone who speeds or runs a right light.
Signs warning drivers about the cameras will be placed near the intersections.
Redflex is the company operating the cameras.
See also:
How to beat Photo Radar - Lawyers agree, the easiest way to beat a Radar speed camera ticket is to throw it in the trash and ignore it. Same for redlight tickets and parking tickets, for lacking "personal service of process" as required in all civil lawsuits.
The Tennessee state Senate voted unanimously yesterday to more clearly authorize cities to deploy red light cameras and speed cameras. State Senator Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) introduced the legislation which is likely to encourage dozens more cities to deploy the devices that can add millions to municipal budgets.
TIM BURCHETT
R-Knoxville
District 7 Knox County
8220 Bennington Drive
Knoxville, TN 37909
865-693-1902
More than ten cities throughout the state, including Chattanooga, Kingsport and Knoxville installed ticket cameras before an intense behind-the-scenes lobbying effort secured a brief state authorization law last June. The one-sentence statute only specified that photo tickets must not carry license points. Burchett's bill will help municipalities avoid lawsuits by giving the state's blessing to existing photo ticket procedures. The single pro-motorist provision that had been part of the first draft of Burchett's bill would have required cities to send citations by certified mail to ensure that the notice was properly received. An amendment deleted that requirement, noting that cities would lose $3.06 for each ticket if the provision had survived. The Senate-passed version of the bill includes a provision that delays the imposition of unlimited late fees until 30 days after a second notice is sent by regular mail.
The measure now heads to the state House for consideration. A copy of the bill is found in a 55k PDF file at the source link below.
Tennessee Code 55-8-110 - Traffic-control signals — Inoperative signals with vehicle detection devices for motorcycles — Right of way at signals inoperative due to mechanical failure or accident. — Citations based on surveillance cameras. (d) A traffic citation that is based solely on evidence obtained from a surveillance camera that has been installed to enforce or monitor traffic violations shall be for a nonmoving traffic violation.
Amendment No. 1 to SB3258
Tracy - Signature of Sponsor
AMEND Senate Bill No. 3258 House Bill No. 3069*
By deleting all of the language after the enacting clause and by substituting instead the
following:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55, Chapter 8, Part 1, is amended by
adding a new section thereto, as follows:
Section 55-8-198.
(a) A traffic citation that is based solely upon evidence obtained from a
surveillance camera that has been installed to enforce or monitor traffic violations shall
be considered a nonmoving traffic violation.
(b) An employee of the applicable law enforcement office shall review video
evidence from a traffic light signal monitoring system and make a determination as to
whether a violation has occurred. If a determination is made that a violation has
occurred, a notice of violation or a citation shall be sent by first class mail to the
registered owner of the vehicle that was captured by the traffic light signal monitoring
system. A notice of violation or citation shall allow for payment of such traffic violation or
citation within thirty (30) days of the mailing of such notice. No additional penalty or
other costs shall be assessed for non-payment of a traffic violation or citation that is
based solely on evidence obtained from a surveillance camera installed to enforce or
monitor traffic violations, unless a second notice is sent by first class mail to the
registered owner of the motor vehicle and such second notice provides for an additional
thirty (30) days for payment of such violation or citation.
(c) The following vehicles are exempt from receiving a notice of violation:
(1) Emergency vehicles with active emergency lights;
(2) Vehicles moving through the intersection to avoid or clear the way for
a marked emergency vehicle;
(3) Vehicles under police escort; and
(4) Vehicles in a funeral procession.
(d)
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the registered owner
of the motor vehicle shall be responsible for payment of any notice of violation or
citation issued as the result of a traffic light monitoring system.
(2) An owner of a vehicle shall not be responsible for the violation if, on or
before the designated court date, such owner furnishes the court an affidavit
stating the name and address of the person or entity that leased, rented or
otherwise had care, custody or control of the motor vehicle at the time of the
violation.
(3) If a motor vehicle or its plates were stolen at the time of the alleged
violation, the registered owner must provide an affidavit denying such owner was
an operator and provide a certified copy of the police report reflecting such theft.
(4) An affidavit alleging theft of a motor vehicle or its plates must be
provided by the registered owner of a vehicle receiving a notice of violation within
thirty (30) days of the mailing date of the notice of violation.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-8-110, is amended by deleting
subsection (d) in its entirety.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008, the public welfare requiring it.
Rule 4.03. Summons; Return — (1) The person serving the summons shall promptly make proof of service to the court and shall identify the person served and shall describe the manner of service. If a summons is not served within 90 days after its issuance, it shall be returned stating the reasons for failure to serve. The plaintiff may obtain new summonses from time to time, as provided in Rule 3, if any prior summons has been returned unserved or if any prior summons has not been served within 90 days of issuance.
(2)When process is served by mail, the original summons, endorsed as below; an affidavit of the person making service setting forth the person's compliance with the requirements of this rule; and, the return receipt shall be sent to and filed by the clerk. The person making service shall endorse over his or her signature on the original summons the date of mailing a certified copy of the summons and a copy of the complaint to the defendant and the date of receipt of return receipt from the defendant. If the return receipt is signed by the defendant, or by person designated by Rule 4.04 or by statute, service on the defendant shall be complete. If not, service by mail may be attempted again or other methods authorized by these rules or by statute may be used.
Red light cameras shut down across Italy in massive fraud scandal involving 109 public officials and contractors.
TheNewspaper.com
30 January 2009
Red light cameras are shut down across Italy as the largest ever government investigation into the illegal use of photo enforcement expands. Carabinieri yesterday placed the inventor of the "T-Red" brand of red light camera, Stefano Arrighetti, 45, under house arrest. Another 63 municipal police commanders; 39 mayors and other public officials; and red light camera distributors including Kria, Ci.Ti.Esse, Maggioli, Traffic Technology and Open Software are under investigations. Documents and automated ticketing machines have been seized from 54 municipalities.
Motorist complaints about being trapped at camera-equipped intersections with short yellow signal durations sparked the inquiry. Verona Preliminary Investigations Judge Sandro Sperandio ordered police on January 24, 2008 to seize T-red devices in Tregnago, and the case soon spread across the country to other cities and towns under contract with photo ticketing companies.
Criminal charges of forgery and fraud are based on four basic complaints, many of which represent common practices in the United States. First, municipalities are accused of shortening yellow times to boost profit. Although not binding, Ministry of Transportation guidelines recommend a minimum yellow of 3 seconds for intersections with a posted speed of 50km/h (31 MPH), 4 seconds for 60 km/h (37 MPH) and 5 seconds for 70km/h (43 MPH). Many cameras were placed at high-speed intersections with yellow times as short as 3 seconds. In the US, photo enforcement advocates modified signal timing guidelines beginning in 1985 to promote the use of shortened yellow timing without running into legal troubles.
Second, investigators found that municipal police never reviewed the camera fines. Instead, the tickets went straight to private companies like Ci.Ti.Esse which affixed scanned electronic signatures of police officials before mailing the citations, in violation of Italian law. Camera companies in the US also affix digital signatures to citations that have often never been reviewed by police officials.
The third charge involves fraudulent type approval of the red light camera device. Arrighetti's company, Kria, is accused of having only the T-Red's camera approved by the Ministry of Transportation, not the electronic control hardware that determines who receives a ticket. The same charge has been leveled against Redflex, the Australian company that operates US red light and speed camera systems.
The fourth and most damaging charge involves contracting irregularities. A municipal police commander who helped a red light camera system go from 500,000 Euros in fines in 2005 to $1 million Euros in 2007 received a 2000 Euro (US $2580) bonus from a private company. The no-bid contracts offered to the companies that operate the systems with a per-ticket compensation of 35 percent of each fine issued, while common in the US, violate Italian contracting statutes.
Motorists who have already received fines may apply to the courts to have them canceled.
Farragut’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen authorized a contract negotiation team to begin talks with the top red-light camera vendor, Redflex.
The team charged with bidding for, interviewing and selecting an automated enforcement vendor, Associate Town Administrator Gary Palmer, Capt. Ben Harkins with Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Darryl Smith, Town engineer and James Everett, assistant Town engineer, unanimously selected Redflex from the four vendors.
“We are at the end of a very long process,” Palmer said.
“We went through all the rankings and deliberated a little while. It was very clear in who we unanimously selected.”
“Our unanimous recommendation to the Board is to choose Redflex as the vendor,” Palmer said.
The selection team evaluated each vendor based on each company’s history, project approach, and references, worth 25, 50 and 25 points apiece, respectively.
Redflex received a perfect score of 100 points.
Evaluations included everything from examining the financial records of each company, types of technology offered, customer service support, and feedback from five governmental entities that each company had to provide.
Nestor was the second highest-rated vendor, followed by American Traffic Solutions, who did not make a presentation to the Board, and Traffipax at a very distant fourth.
According to Redflex regional director Cherif Elsadek, who presented to the Board July 10, Redflex is the largest provider in the United States, with 22 years experience and traffic systems in Knoxville, Oak Ridge and Kingsport.
The system uses three digital high-resolution cameras and a video camera mounted in a roadside box.
The cameras take several shots. If the system detects a motorist approaching the intersection at a speed at which he is unlikely to stop, a camera takes a rear shot of the motorist. If the motorist continues through the intersection, the cameras take a picture of the license plate and a photograph of the red light violation, as well as a 12-second video.
Elsadek presented information from KCSO that cited safety statistics at intersections in Knoxville.
These statistics showed a 93 percent issuance rate in the City and a 100 percent decrease in traffic deaths at monitored intersections. At monitored intersections, there was a 16 percent decrease in rear end collisions and a 42 percent decrease in right angle collisions.
In addition, since the red light cameras were installed, KCSO reports a 40 percent decrease at non-monitored intersections.
Elsadek said the Town could choose between in-ground loops, flush-mounted sensors, laser, radar or virtual video triggers. He added that in-ground sensors are the most accurate type of triggering devices, with the fewest false triggers.
“Redflex offered every form of technology and it was at our discretion what kind we wanted to use,” Palmer reminded the Board Aug. 14.
Town will likely request the in-ground sensors.
“I think we’re in agreement that it would be those pads that are actually bored into the concrete. It wouldn’t be cutting in; they would just be boring a hole, placing a sensor and then putting the bore back on top … its not very invasive at all,” Palmer added.
Redflex will allow violators to view the ticket, photographs and video on-line and would provide a kiosk at Town Hall for those residents without Internet access.
In addition, each camera is given an IP address that allows police officers to monitor the camera footage in real time.
Because Redflex has a full service center in Knoxville, Elsadek promised an at-most 24-hour turnaround in a “hard down” situation and remote assistance for most technical problems.
“Clearly, to us, customer service was a big deal in this whole endeavor, and Redflex just offered better customer service. They’re more available; they’re local,” Palmer said.
“Regardless of what happens in the City of Knoxville, they have said they will keep that office opened up in Knoxville,” he added.
The Board authorized a team to begin negotiating with Redflex: Town Attorney Tom Hale, Smith or his designee, Harkins and Dan Olson, Town administrator, or his designee.
In the event a satisfactory agreement with Redflex could not be reached, negotiations would be held with Nestor.
Red light cameras will be placed at the Campbell Station Road at Kingston Pike, Smith Road at Kingston Pike, Campbell Station at Grigsby Chapel/
Parkside Drive and Kingston Pike at Concord Road intersections.
An investment firm may buy out another major provider of red light cameras and speed cameras. Redflex Traffic Systems, based in Melbourne, Australia, operates about one-half of the photo enforcement devices in the United States. The company announced today that it has been approached by unnamed suitors carrying generous offers.
"In recent weeks, Redflex has been approached by several parties expressing interest in acquiring 100 percent of the issued capital of the company," a release to Australian Securities Exchange investors stated. "The board has now received multiple nonbinding indicative proposals from credible parties to acquire the company at indicative values in excess of $3.50 per share."
As late as Wednesday Redflex stock had been trading at just A$2.17 (US $1.43) a share. The potential to be paid more than the 52-week high for a share in the company caused the stock to close today at A$2.80 per share, up 27 percent. Redflex hired Gresham Advisory Partners to review the proposals to determine whether selling the company, which has a market capitalization of A$253 million, would be in the best interest of the board of directors. The buyout offers follow last month's announcement that thieving bankrupt Goldman Sachs had acquired a minority stake in photo ticketing rival American Traffic Solutions (ATS). It also follows the announcement of massive growth in the US market for the Redflex product.
"Again, new records have been set by substantial margins in relation to all standard measures of financial performance," Redflex Chairman Christopher Cooper wrote in the company's 2008 annual report which was released last week. "Between the start and finish of the financial year the US dollar declined in Australian dollar terms by approximately 13 percent. That being the case, the financial records established by Redflex are all the more commendable."
Redflex saw an increase of 43 percent in traffic ticket revenue from the United States, driven primarily by an increase in the total number of ticket cameras installed from 877 to 1267. The demand for more cameras has increased as local jurisdictions continue to feel the pinch from the financial crisis. As home values continue to decline, property tax income likewise falls off, leaving cities and counties struggling to find money to fund expensive new social programs.
That is when Redflex and competitors like ATS drop in and offer "turnkey" red light camera and speed camera solutions (view a sample presentation). With no effort or cost exposure on the part of the jurisdiction, many officials see nothing to lose by signing up to allow either Redflex or ATS to issue tickets on its behalf. Rhode Island based Nestor, Inc. also offers red light camera programs, but it closed trading yesterday at just 9 cents per share having announced a $2.5 million net loss for the first quarter.
Vendors plan to add spy technology to existing red light camera and speed camera installations.
Private companies in the US are hoping to use red light cameras and speed cameras as the basis for a nationwide surveillance network similar to one that will be active next year in the UK. Redflex and American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the top two photo enforcement providers in the US, are quietly shopping new motorist tracking options to prospective state and local government clients. Redflex explained the company's latest developments in an August 7 meeting with Homestead, Florida officials.
"We are moving into areas such as homeland security on a national level and on a local level," Redflex regional director Cherif Elsadek said. "Optical character recognition is our next roll out which will be coming out in a few months -- probably about five months or so."
The technology would be integrated with the Australian company's existing red light camera and speed camera systems. It allows officials to keep full video records of passing motorists and their passengers, limited only by available hard drive space and the types of cameras installed. To gain public acceptance, the surveillance program is being initially sold as an aid for police looking to solve Amber Alert cases and locate stolen cars.
"Imagine if you had 1500 or 2000 cameras out there that could look out for the partial plate or full plate number across the 21 states where we do business today," Elsadek said. "This is the next step for our technology."
ATS likewise is promoting motorist tracking technologies. In a recent proposal to operate 200 speed cameras for the Arizona state police, the company explained that its ticketing cameras could be integrated into a national vehicle tracking database. This would allow a police officer to simply enter a license plate number into a laptop computer and receive an email as soon as a speed camera anywhere in the state recognized that plate.
Such programs would be fully consistent with existing law on searches and seizures. In the 2003 case Washington v. William Bradley Jackson, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that police could not use a physical GPS tracking device to monitor a suspect's movements without first obtaining a warrant. No warrant would be needed or restrictions applied to license plate tracking systems which do not require any physical contact. Instead, individual police officers could monitor the movements of suspected criminals or even their wives and neighbors at any time.
In the past, police databases have been used to intimidate innocent motorists. An Edmonton, Canada police sergeant, for example, found himself outraged after he read columnist Kerry Diotte criticize his city's photo radar operation in the Edmonton Sun newspaper. The sergeant looked up journalist Diotte's personal information, and, without the assistance of electronic scanners, ordered his subordinates to "be on the lookout" for Diotte's BMW. Eventually a team of officers followed Diotte to a local bar where they hoped to trap the journalist and accuse him of driving under the influence of alcohol. Diotte took a cab home and the officers' plan was exposed after tapes of radio traffic were leaked to the press. Police later cleared themselves of any serious wrong-doing following an extensive investigation.
In the UK, officials are planning to dramatically expand the use of average speed cameras that track cars over distances as great as six miles. Records on all vehicle movements taken from a nationwide network of cameras will be stored for five years in a central government Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) server, allowing police to keep tabs on criminals and political opponents. Work on the data center in north London began in 2005 and officials expect real-time, nationwide tracking capability to be available by January 2009.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is looking at potential violations of federal regulations by Redflex, an Australian company that operates mobile speed cameras in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio, Oregon and Washington. This week, the Arizona Department of Public Safety took the allegations seriously enough to order Redflex vans off of state highways. It is unclear whether other local and state agencies will follow suit.
Redflex rival American Traffic Solutions (ATS) carefully documented the potential violation and last week fired off a 31-page complaint to the FCC. ATS followed up on Tuesday with a 20-page letter that included surveillance photographs documenting the alleged use of uncertified equipment by Redflex in violation of federal law.
"Redflex is marketing and operating the DRS-3 radar in the United States, without FCC certification and without any labels or markings showing an FCC ID," ATS Vice President Philip Underhill wrote in a letter to the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology. "These radar units transmit and receive radio waves in a bandwidth that is specifically regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. Such a 'Radiolocation Transmitter Device,' (also known as a traffic speed radar system) cannot be marketed for sale, sold or used in the United States without being Type Accepted by the FCC."
Industrial and consumer electronic equipment that transmits or receives radio waves must meet federal technical standards designed to ensure that devices do not interfere with television and radio reception or with critical public safety systems such as air traffic control and police radios. The FCC maintains a lab in Maryland equipped with an anechoic chamber so that such devices can undergo scientific testing. Those that pass the test are granted an FCC ID number and can display an FCC certification logo. The FCC also allows testing in approved, private labs, including one located in New South Wales, Australia.
After ATS noticed that its Australian rival had ignored these requirements for the German DRS-3 and British AGD-340 radar components installed in its photo radar vans, ATS decided to bring the violation to the attention of federal regulators. No listing for these radar units or Redflex was found in a search of FCC records.
"This letter is a formal complaint and request the FCC intercede and require Redflex to stop marketing, selling and using the DRS-3 radar antenna until such time as Type Acceptance is granted by the FCC," Underhill wrote. "We also request that the FCC enforce any penalties that may be due as a result of potentially illegal actions and use."
Underhill suggested that the failure of Redflex to file FCC Form 740 before using the device is punishable by a maxmimum penalty of $250,000 and five years in jail. If the FCC determines that a violation took place, it would not be the first time that the Australian company has been found guilty of ignoring US law. In July, the Arizona Secretary of State found that the notary public employed by Redflex falsified documents used to certify speed camera deployments in Lafayette, Louisiana. The ATS filing with the FCC cited the falsified documents which confirmed the use of a radar that is not certified for use in the United States.
A copy of the ATS letter sent to the FCC on Tuesday is available in a 65k PDF file at the source link below.
Pirate News Note: You can win in court against a radar speeding ticket when you catch cops using a radar unit without an FCC radio transmitter license. Each radar transmitter must be licensed by FCC, for that one specific frequency.
WASHINGTON — The leafy capital suburb of Chevy Chase Village is a great place to live but you wouldn't want to visit there.
At least not by car. Easy-to-miss automated speed cameras on its half-mile main drag, where the speed limit is 30 mph, caught 3,500 speeders on their first day of operation last fall. Before that, the norm was six tickets a day.
Many speeders first learn they've been caught when citations, along with photographic evidence, show up at the addresses that match the violators' license plates.
Be forewarned: More than 300 U.S. communities use automated "cop cam" systems like Chevy Chase's. They're after not just speeders but also red-light violators and railroad-crossing jumpers.
In the works are bus-mounted cop cams that ticket bus lane intruders, cop cams to punish speeders in highway construction zones, even cop cam systems that ticket motorists based on a car's average speed over a mile. They catch drivers who brake for known camera sites, then resume speeding.
Want to fight a cop cam ticket?
The same software that processes violations lets drivers view the five seconds before and after their alleged offenses on their home computers.
"It's very compelling evidence," said Cristina Weekes, the executive vice president for sales and marketing at Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz. [sic], a leading cop-cam maker [in the foreign nation of AUSTRALIA].
"It's almost a no-win," admitted Horace Bradshaw, Washington's best-known traffic court defense lawyer.
When polled, substantial majorities approve of cop cams. When ticketed, however, lots are outraged.
"It's like Nazi Germany!" sputtered Dan Bradley, 41, a federal personnel investigator who routinely runs the six-lane Chevy Chase gantlet. "They ticket you for speeds that aren't dangerous."
In the peaceable United Kingdom, where cop cams are 10 times more widely used, saboteurs have shot out cameras lenses, disabled them with bolt cutters, set fire to them and pulled them down with a tractor's help, according to news reports.
What bugs people is clear from an industry pioneer's explanation of the effectiveness of cop cams:
"It's like the prospect of an IRS audit: The perception of risk promotes voluntary compliance," said Jim Tuton, founder of American Traffic Solutions of Scottsdale, Weekes' rival.
Three more tangible advantages excite municipal officials [due to kickback bribes from foreign private contractors that keep 90% to 110% of all ticket profits]:
Cop cams suppress violations effectively by all accounts, at least around known camera sites. In one widely cited study, six speed cameras posted on an eight-mile stretch of the Loop 101 freeway in Scottsdale cut speeders by 88 percent over a nine-month period.
Cop cams reduce accidents, by most accounts. The frequent exception is more rear-enders, due to sudden stops on yellow at intersections where drivers know that the light is camera-monitored. Reductions in more hazardous right-angle crashes more than offset the added rear-enders, police say.
The third reason, which municipal officials downplay, is that cop cams can be cash cows [for private contractors that keep 90% to 110% of gross profits].
In Chevy Chase, for example, where speeding tickets brought in about $8,000 monthly before cop cams, "We are routinely bringing in approximately a quarter-million dollars per month," Geoffrey Biddle, Chevy Chase's village manager, told his Board of Managers in February.
For a community of 2,000 with an annual budget of $4.6 million, that's a bonanza. What's more, because locals know enough to evade the cop cams, the village's new revenue mostly comes from outsiders, rather like a commuter tax.
Nor are Chevy Chase's big gains unique. Washington's dozen cop cams have taken in more than $200 million since 2001. Scottsdale's six freeway cameras took in $17 million in 2006.
Chevy Chase Police Chief Roy Gordon said in an interview, however: "It's not about how much revenue we're taking in with these cameras; it's about changing driver behavior."
There are four ways to avoid cop cam tickets: Most communities warn motorists that traffic laws are photo-enforced. New York City is one exception. Most municipalities also list cop-cam locations on their Web sites. Some new navigation systems warn drivers of known cop cam locations. And there's a site that tries to keep track of them, www.photoenforced.com.
Municipalities and contractors both do well by doing good, but contractors do more of the work.
The contractor studies a community's violation patterns, recommends camera locations, and calibrates and maintains the cameras. Using the police department's definition of speeding — typically 10 or 11 miles above the posted speed except in school zones — the cop cam system saves only the images of likely violators. Police review these along with the proposed citations.
Reviewers toss those with flaws, such as blurred license-plate numbers, more than one car in a single radar photo image or, in many jurisdictions, rental cars, whose drivers are too hard to track down. Contractors ticket the remainder and track collections.
Revenue splits vary, depending on the amounts of fines and traffic.
In Kingsport, Tenn., for example, Redflex receives 80 percent of the ticket price ($40) for the first 95 tickets issued at each intersection approach each month. Kingsport gets the remaining $10, according to Deputy Police Chief David Quillin.
After 95 tickets, Redflex and Kingsport split the fines evenly. In addition, Kingsport gets court costs, which the city council hiked from $13.50 to $50 last year. (The increase "would have happened regardless of the cameras," Quillin said. )
For the city, the gain is from $160,000 a year pre-cameras to an estimated $1.4 million. Redflex will make about half that.
Currently, 27 states — including California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas and Washington — permit some kind of cop cam system. Arizona bought 100 speed and HOV-lane cameras this year for state highways. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants hundreds more.
Their only natural enemies are proving to be state legislatures. Many are so keen for a big share of cop cam revenue that local governments lose the incentive to introduce the cameras.
Nonetheless, cop cam maker Tuton predicts that the cameras someday will be part of the "standard national infrastructure."
The big reason is that their spread is viral: When they work, violations and revenue both fall. To that, the likeliest answer is more cameras.
Traffic light cameras such as the six installed in Murfreesboro make intersections more dangerous and violate the Constitution, according to the libertarian-leaning Tennessee Center for Policy Research.
"The argument that red light cameras increase safety is preposterous," Justin Owen, co-author of a report on the cameras and director of legal policy for the organization, said in a news release.
"The only thing that increases is the amount of money going from the pockets of drivers into the pockets of the cities and the red light camera companies."
Murfreesboro Police Major Clyde Adkison stands by the city's decision to install traffic light cameras.
The cameras were installed at intersections at Memorial and Northfield boulevards, Rutherford and Mercury boulevards, South Church Street at Middle Tennessee Boulevard, Northwest Broad Street and Northfield, South Church Street and Northwest Broad Street, and Old Fort Parkway at Thompson Lane.
Anyone caught running a red light is mailed a $50-fine notice that includes pictures of the violation. Drivers can appeal in traffic court but risk an additional $113.50 fee in court costs if they lose.
"We feel like accidents have decreased," Adkison said.
The major said police could not produce statistics about the intersections on Monday because he and other officials were busy with funeral arrangements for a former assistant police chief who died Friday.
The Center for Policy Research report contends that traffic light cameras are causing rear-end collisions, but may reduce T-bone wrecks in which a vehicle hits another in the side.
It says wrecks could be decreased by 40 percent by lengthening the duration of a yellow light.
'Money over safety'
"Kingsport's revenues from fines soared 347 percent in the year after installing cameras," the report says.
It also says 63 percent of each fine from traffic cameras goes to the companies that installed them. Murfreesboro hired Traffipax to install and maintain its traffic cameras.
"Red light cameras are a troubling example of how government and business put money over safety and common sense to tag team Tennessee's drivers," Owen says in the news release.
Chattanooga, Tennessee Judge refunds 176 red light camera tickets issued at illegally short yellow light.
The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee will refund $8800 in red light cameras tickets issued to motorists trapped by an illegally short yellow time. Municipal Court Judge Russell Bean on Monday dismissed charges against 176 vehicle owners cited by an automated ticketing machine located at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Pine Street.
Last month, a motorist challenged his citation by insisting that the yellow light was too short and only remained lit for 3.0 seconds before changing to red and activating the camera. LaserCraft, the private vendor that runs the camera program in return for a cut of the profits, provided the judge with a computer database that asserted the yellow was 3.8 seconds at that location. Bean gave the motorist the benefit of the doubt and watched the video of the alleged violation while counting how long the light stayed yellow.
"It didn't seem to me that it was at four (seconds) because it would change right at three," Bean told the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Bean then personally checked the intersection in question was timed at three seconds while other nearby locations had about four seconds of yellow warning. City traffic engineer John Van Winkle told Bean that "a mix up with the turn arrow" was responsible and that the bare minimum for the light should be 3.9 seconds. Judge Bean ordered 176 of the tickets issued within the first 0.9 seconds after the light turned red canceled.
Short yellow times are vital to ensuring the steady flow of traffic citations for vendors like LaserCraft. Confidential documents obtained in a 2001 court trial proved that the city of San Diego, California and its red light camera vendor, now ACS, only installed red light cameras at intersections with high volumes and "Amber (yellow) phase less than 4 seconds."
Short yellows trap drivers in what is known as a "dilemma zone" where there is neither time to stop safely -- without slamming the brakes and risking a rear-end collision -- nor to proceed through the intersection before it changes to red. Red light cameras capitalize on this, with four out of every five tickets issued before the light has been red for a full second, according to a report by the California State Auditor. This suggests that most citations are issued to those surprised by a quick-changing signal light.
In 2002, a Baltimore, Maryland judge caught the city trapping motorists at signals with illegally short yellow lights. Read court memo
An analysis published last week in the journal of the Florida Public Health Association argues that, contrary to common assumptions, the use of red light cameras leads to increases in insurance rates and injury accidents. Researchers Barbara Langland-Orban, Etienne E. Pracht and John T. Large closely examined the most often cited studies of red light camera use and concluded that not all of them were equally reliable.
"All research studies are susceptible to design flaws, especially observational (i.e. non-experimental) studies," the report stated. "Some of the major studies concluding reductions in red light running have exhibited such design flaws."
The most proper way to study the issue would be to gather accident data at intersections where cameras are actively ticketing over a set period (after) and compare them with accident records for an equal period when the devices were not installed (before). Control intersection data can then be used to better isolate the effects of camera use. Professor Orban and her colleagues found that the studies usually cited by photo enforcement proponents did not follow this basic procedure.
For example, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study of accident reductions in Oxnard, California did not actually examine accidents at camera intersections. Instead, it compared citywide crash rates between intersections with signals and intersections without signals. Likewise, the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) 2005 study of cameras did not compare the accident rate before cameras were installed to the rate afterward. Instead, it estimated expected crashes in the after period by comparing intersections with cameras to intersections without.
FHWA also selectively excluded certain cities from its analysis, including Greensboro, North Carolina and cities in Virginia, which experienced a significant increase in injuries and accidents according to other studies. The report also selectively excluded the reporting of certain data to ensure independent researchers would be unable to challenge or verify the study's conclusion. The federal agency went to far in its secrecy as to refuse a Freedom of Information Act request for a set of its results listed by location. The National Motorists Association had made the request intending to verify the particular conditions at the intersections studied.
The researchers suggested that the IIHS and FHWA studies were tainted by financial conflicts of interest. The insurance industry directly funds IIHS. And, although the FHWA study was sponsored by the US Department of Transportation, study co-director Bhagwant Persaud has accepted significant payment from IIHS for his past research. Orban explained that the insurance industry not only makes money from traffic tickets that carry license demerit points, but it also makes greater profit when the number of accidents increases.
"Higher crash rates suggest higher risk; justifying higher premiums and profits," the report stated. "Due to the pricing methods used, automobile insurers do not have a financial incentive to lower crash rates or perceptions of risk."
The report cites Florida data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners which shows that insurance profits skyrocketed from 2000 to 2004 -- from $8.7 billion to $14 billion. It did so by paying out 73 cents in claims for every dollar collected in premiums in 2000. This number dropped to 61 cents on the dollar in 2004. During this period, the accident rate remained static and the number of traffic tickets issued increased.
Orban found the independent VDOT, Ontario and Burkey-Obeng studies (view studies) followed proper scientific methods and were fully open in sharing the data upon which the conclusions were based. These studies concluded that red light cameras caused an increase in injuries and overall accidents.
"Cities and counties should... pursue engineering improvements to enhance intersection safety for all drivers and passengers," Orban's report concluded. "Proven engineering practices and countermeasures can reduce crashes and injuries due to red light running, as well as other causes of intersection crashes."
Read the full text of the report in an 80k PDF file at the source link below.
KNOXVILLE, TENN - Teddy bears and candy bars are not a pair of things you typically what you would associate with a court of law.
But they became as present as a gavel and black robe on Thursday morning.
Clifford Clark stands accused of shooting out a red light camera with a high powered rifle.
As he walked into on Thursday, he made a beeline for some members of the media, and handed them each a teddy bear.
The bear’s were all wearing shirts that read “Save the Cliff.”
Clark also planned to hand out candy bars, until an officer told him food was not allowed in courtroom.
When the hearing finally got started, the gift bearer wound up representing himself.
"It was an adrenaline rush,” he said, “I was scared nervous and I enjoyed it. I also sky dive and fly acrobatics, but I did like that adrenaline."
During his hearing, Clark cross examined one of the witnesses.
“Point out the damage, for the court, to this camera," he asked.
"You can't on that camera picture," replied the witness.
“Why not,” asked Clark?
"It's a poor quality picture," said the witness.
“Well I think we have a poor quality witness,” Clark replied.
Even though the case has now been bound to the grand jury on two felony counts, Clark had love for everyone in the courtroom.
"I actually like the prosecutor, there are very few people that I've met in this episode that I didn't like,” he said. “Even though she was somewhat combative and somewhat insulting, I thought she was a great lady, and I thought the judge was a wonderful person."
Clark said he has degrees and graduate work in engineering, psychology and nursing.
Even with the potential for prison time if convicted, he claims to not be too worried.
"If by some miscarriage of justice I am convicted of anything, I'll be an exceptionally good criminal,” he laughed, before saying just kidding. “I'm probably going to be the most educated criminal in prison."
When asked after court if he shot the camera, Clark said no.
He did however say he would admit to urinating in public, a misdemeanor which he claims is the reason he stopped in the area where the shots supposedly came from.
Clark was also unsure if he would continue to represent himself if the grand jury indicts him, but Judge Andrew Jackson did tell him he did a good job representing himself during the hearing.
KNOXVILLE, TENN - Clifford Clark, the man accused of shooting a red light camera in November, says he's innocent.
Clark says he remembers the night of November 24-25 very clearly.
"I had come back from middle Tennessee and I had been shooting... I had dinner with a group of people downtown, pulled off to use the restroom, and got nailed," he says.
Clark says he thought he was getting pulled over for urinating in public, but instead he was arrested for shooting a red light camera
Knoxville police say Clark shot the camera at Broadway and I-640 around 2 a.m. November 25.
Investigators say hours earlier that same camera caught Clark running a red light.
"I was surprised that I was charged and also surprised people presumed guilt," Clark says.
He says he would have had nothing to gain from what he's accused of and no evidence that says he did it. "There isn't any discharging of firearms on any of the police video and no witnesses have come forward saying they saw anything."
Clark accuses Knoxville police of tampering with evidence after they found a rifle in his car.
He says he had been shooting paper targets in the woods earlier that day.
"All you have to do is make an example out of one person and maybe it was me," Clark says.
Clark admits he is now against the use of red light cameras but only became aware of the controversy around them after the incident.
"I think the public is really tired of the cameras, and they want someone to rise up and strike the cameras down, and I've filled that role vicariously for them, but they're going to be disappointed when I'm found not guilty," says Clark.
He says he's never received a red light camera ticket to this day.
His hearing is set for next week.
Clark now faces felony vandalism and reckless endangerment charges.
The police report says officers heard gunshots and when they headed towards the area to investigate, they saw a van fleeing the area.
They made a traffic stop and Cliff Clark was inside.
He was arrested after they found a hunting rifle in his van.
The red light camera had been shot three times.
6 News contacted the Knoxville police tonight.
When we asked about the incident and the tampering claim, they could not comment because the investigation is ongoing.
A Knoxville man accused of shooting out a red light camera represented himself in court on Thursday.
The judge warned him it was unusual considering the seriousness of the charges. Clifford Clark is charged with vandalism and reckless endangerment.
"It was an adrenaline rush--scared, nervous-- I enjoyed it," Clark said of representing himself. "I sky dive, fly aerobatics, so I did like the adrenaline."
Clark went from computer engineer to his very own counsel on Thursday. He's accused of shooting out the red light camera near Broadway and I-640 in late November.
Clark insists police nabbed the wrong man.
"Officer, did you witness me or anyone else shooting at the traffic camera?" Clark asked the witness.
"No, sir," said Knoxville Police Officer Jason Keck.
"Thank you. Your honor, may I make a motion for dismissal please?" Clark responded.
Two Knoxville police officers did, however, testify that they heard several shots in that area, then saw Clark driving out of the Pittman Automotive parking lot and pulled him over.
The officers said they found a rifle and a box of bullets with four missing inside his minivan.
"Point out the damage to the camera to the court please," Clark asked the witness.
"You can't on the picture," Officer James Cox replied.
"Why not?" asked Clark.
"Because you have a poor quality picture," the officer replied.
"I think we have a poor quality witness," Clark said.
The judge eventually took a recess so everyone connected to the case could watch a video Clark handed out to the press last week.
Clark says the police video shows the officers tampering with evidence, but the court wasn't convinced.
A grand jury will now decide whether the accused red light shooter will stand trial.
That's when Clark will decide if he'll play lawyer again.
"I will consult with an attorney, but what I will need to do is make a few sky dives between now and then, to get the adrenaline worked out, then decide whether to hire an attorney."
Clark says he is guilty of urinating in public, which is why police found him where they did. He also says he has never received a ticket for running that particular red light.
Before Thursday's hearing, Clark gave teddy bears that said, "Save the Cliff" to all the reporters.
Clark tried to give one to the assistant district attorney general handling the case, but she gave it back.
LaFollette city officials are considering putting red light cameras and speed cameras into use.
Along Jacksboro Pike, a main thoroughfare in LaFollette, law enforcement officials say they have a big problem with drivers not obeying the rules of the road, including speeding and running red lights.
Officer John Baker issues roughly 25 speeding tickets and 12 red light citations a month. "Just this morning, we had a woman run a red light and cause an accident in the middle of town."
City administrator David Young says, "We think from a safety stand point, it's going to be a really good thing for the city of LaFollette."
Violators would be fined around $50 but the points wouldn't count against a driver's license.
"The revenue is a side effect," Young says. "We're looking at the safety involved that will no only provide revenue, but hopefully slow down traffic."
LaFollette Police Chief Ben Baird says the cameras would be an added tool for his department. "We can't devote time setting cars at red lights so this should help the level of enforcement we're not able to provide."
The company called Red Flex would decide where speed or red light cameras should be placed.
But for now, speed cameras and red light cameras are just possibilities in talks between LaFollette officials. The issue will be reviewed at the city council meeting in February.
In some other East Tennessee cities, Morristown officials say their red light cameras should be up and running in the next few months.
In Oak Ridge, officials are still weighing the idea of putting cameras up at their busiest intersections.
And Knoxville currently has 15 red light cameras in use. Police say since the first one was installed in 2006, crashes have been reduced by 40 percent.
A growing number of East Tennessee cities are considering installing red light cameras at busy intersections and Morristown has joined the list.
Morristown's red light camera plan is expected to happen this spring.
Meanwhile, Knoxville has 15 red light cameras in use.
And Officials in Oak Ridge and LaFollette are considering adding cameras at some of their intersections.
In Morristown, red light cameras are expected to be installed at five intersections.
The cameras will be the same type in use in Knoxville.
Officials say the amount of money the cameras would generate for Morristown depends on where the cameras are put into use. They also say there will be no cost to taxpayers.
However, officials say the cameras would be used more to help improve safety on the roads than to collect money.
They hope to reduce crashes at dangerous intersections around the city.
George Korda began his communications career as a military journalist. From 1972 to 1974 he was assigned to The School Brigade at Ft. Benning, GA., where he reported on training activities of U.S. Army Rangers, airborne infantry, the U.S. Army Infantry School and other unit functions.
In 1974 he was assigned to the Chief of Public Affairs, U.S. Army, Europe in Heidelberg, Germany. He traveled throughout Europe writing for Stars & Stripes, Army Times, and numerous other military and civilian publications, including the Associated Press. He was also a radio correspondent for Armed Forces Network, Europe.
In 1977 Korda left the military and became a reporter for Today newspaper (now called Florida Today) in Brevard County, Florida. During his three years with the newspaper, which serves east central Florida, he covered such stories as the 1980 mass refugee boatlift exodus from Cuba, the first submarine launch of a Trident nuclear missile, and many stories related to America’s space program.
In 1981, Korda moved to Tennessee to become Director of Information for the State Department of Commerce and Insurance, which included the state fire marshal’s office and division of regulatory boards. He was frequently called on by the governor’s press secretary to act as spokesman during state government emergencies. These included prison shootings and disturbances, failures of financial institutions, natural disasters, criminal investigations and law enforcement operations.
In 1984, Korda served as press secretary for the Victor Ashe for U.S. Senate campaign. From 1984 -1987 he was with Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence Public Relations in Nashville, specializing in media relations. In 1987 he moved to Knoxville to become Director of Information and press secretary for Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe.
In 1992 he left the mayor’s office to become director of corporate communications for Regal Corporation. From March, 1996 to December, 2003, Korda was with The Ingram Group, a statewide public affairs firm. In January, 2003, he formed Korda Communications, his own public relations and communications consulting firm based in Knoxville.
Korda is political analyst for WATE-TV, Knoxville’s ABC-TV affiliate. He regularly guests on WATE’s public affairs program, “Tennessee This Week.” Korda hosts “State Your Case,” which airs noon – 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.. He appears monthly on “Inside Politics” on WNOX’s “Hallerin Hill Show.” He writes a weekly column for Knoxnews.com, the Knoxville News-Sentinel’s website.
KNOXVILLE TENN. -- If you buy a used car at some East Tennessee dealers, you'd better make payments on time or a device inside could shut off the engine. And it's perfectly legal.
The On Time device is part of an electronic payment protection system. It's supposed to be used if a customer falls behind in making payments.
But a Knoxville man says a car he bought has been disabled four times although his payments haven't been late.
However, representatives with the company that sells the device say that couldn't have happened.
There's an On Time device under the dashboard of Joyce Proctor's 1994 Chevy Lumina. "It's green right now but it turns red just before they shut it off." If that happens, "You can't drive the car. It won't steer. It won't do nothing."
Bill Hendrickson bought the car last March for his ex-wife, Joyce. She drives him around because his health is bad.
"She's scared to death when she goes down the highway, when she visits her mother in Townsend. It's shut off a couple of times," Bill says.
The car came from Frontier Motors at 8421 Asheville Highway, a buy here - pay here lot.
Bill's kept receipts from the time he purchased the car. "My payments are always a week to two weeks early. I've never missed one."
Despite that, Joyce says the car was disabled at home and on the highway. "It happened this past month. It was scary."
"How many times has the tracking device shut your car off on the roadway?" 6 On Your Side asks. "Twice," Joyce says. "I don't want to die. I sure don't want to die. Every time I get in this car, I get scared."
She showed 6 On Your Side a series of numbers that's a code for the On Time device. It has to be punched in every month.
"Every time you make a payment, it's a different code, different numbers on each code," Joyce explains.
6 On Your side went to Frontier Motors and asked Denise Arthur, who filled out Bill Hendrickson's paperwork, about the car.
Arthur said an On Time device "goes on all the vehicles. It's to shut the car down if people don't make their payments."
6 On Your Side told Arthur what Bill and Joyce said about the car being disabled despite making the payments. "First, you can turn that off," she said, pointing to the 6 On Your Side camera.
Then Joyce called Frontier Motors to follow up. "She gave me seven or eight different codes to put into it."
Bill's spent over $1,000 repairing the car's electrical system. He showed 6 On Your Side receipts for a battery, alternator and starter. Apparently, the On Time device depends on a properly tuned electrical system.
"These little devices can shut off if the battery is bad on your car, if your starter goes out on your car, if your alternator is bad on your car," Arthur explains.
Bill wasn't happy to hear the explanation. "I think the whole thing is bull. I've never seen a set up like that. You can't be trusted and my payments are made early, I picked the wrong company."
Despite his displeasure, Bill gave his consent for the system when he signed the sales agreement at Frontier Motors.
6 On Your Side spoke with On Time Wednesday. The company says its device is a starter interrupt system that prevents a car from being turned on only if a payment isn't made or the customer has gone beyond the grace period.
On Time claims the device will not turn off the car while it's running.
The company says whatever happened to Bill Hendrickson's car had nothing to do with its system.
If you have a consumer question or problem, call the 6 On Your Side hotline at (865)-633-5974.
According to Wired.com, the Pentagon is "about to embark on a stunningly ambitious research project designed to gather every conceivable bit of information about a person's life, index all the information and make it searchable. What national security experts and civil libertarians want to know is, why would the Defense Department want to do such a thing?"
Once again, "security experts and civil libertarians" fail to understand the authoritarian, psychopathic mind. Our rulers do these sort of things because they are the ultimate control freaks, paranoid and suspicious of the average person - or rather what the average person may do in order to get rid of the controllers, the parasites, who are compelled to spend billions of dollars on such projects, that is to say billions fleeced off the people they want to monitor and control. As usual, the excuse is they have to protect us from the terrorists, never mind they created the terrorists, too.
"The embryonic LifeLog program would dump everything an individual does into a giant database: every e-mail sent or received, every picture taken, every Web page surfed, every phone call made, every TV show watched, every magazine read," Wired continues. "All of this - and more - would combine with information gleaned from a variety of sources: a GPS transmitter to keep tabs on where that person went, audio-visual sensors to capture what he or she sees or says, and biomedical monitors to keep track of the individual's health."
In fact, a large part of this is already in place, thanks to the NSA's vacuum cleaner approach to searching for "al-Qaeda phone calls," (AllCIAduh) cataloguing millions of phone calls each and every day, reading email, snooping internet destinations with the help of the telecoms. As for GPS, you have one in your cell phone, as well as a way for the snoops to listen in on what you say, even when you think the phone is switched off.
If the government had its way - and it may very well in a few years, thanks to the bovine nature of the average American ? you will be chipped or at minimum have an RFID in your wallet or purse, thus they will be track where you go and when.
This gigantic amalgamation of personal information could then be used to "trace the 'threads' of an individual's life," to see exactly how a relationship or events developed, according to a briefing from the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, LifeLog's sponsor.
Someone with access to the database could "retrieve a specific thread of past transactions, or recall an experience from a few seconds ago or from many years earlier - by using a search-engine interface."
For instance, it could be determined if you harbor "discontent" with the government, in other words if you're with al-Qaeda.
On the surface, the project seems like the latest in a long line of DARPA's "blue sky" research efforts, most of which never make it out of the lab. But DARPA is currently asking businesses and universities for research proposals to begin moving LifeLog forward. And some people, such as Steven Aftergood, a defense analyst with the Federation of American Scientists, are worried.
With its controversial Total Information Awareness database project, DARPA already is planning to track all of an individual's "transactional data" - like what we buy and who gets our e-mail.
While the parameters of the project have not yet been determined, Aftergood said he believes LifeLog could go far beyond TIA's scope, adding physical information (like how we feel) and media data (like what we read) to this transactional data.
"LifeLog has the potential to become something like 'TIA cubed,'" he said.
No doubt, the pointy-heads in the Pentagon are particularly interested in this "how we feel" aspect of the program. Not even Orwell was able to imagine such a scary control device.
You see an image of our commander-guy on television or the web, your biomedical implant registers an elevated level or disgust, and the thought police are dispatched in SWAT fashion. It's off to the re-education camp for you.
Of course, that's really "blue sky" stuff at this point. Instead, for the moment, we'll have to settle for DARPA tracking us on the internet, thanks to technology under development at Microsoft.
In the private sector, a number of LifeLog-like efforts already are underway to digitally archive one's life - to create a "surrogate memory," as minicomputer pioneer Gordon Bell calls it.
Bell, now with Microsoft, scans all his letters and memos, records his conversations, saves all the Web pages he's visited and e-mails he's received and puts them into an electronic storehouse dubbed MyLifeBits.
DARPA's LifeLog would take this concept several steps further by tracking where people go and what they see.
Of course, if you know the government is tracking where you go, chances are you may not go there. And that's why DARPA is spending your hard-earned tax money on technology you can't get around, just in case you're with al-Qaeda or a Ron Paul supporter.
That makes the project similar to the work of University of Toronto professor Steve Mann. Since his teen years in the 1970s, Mann, a self-styled "cyborg," has worn a camera and an array of sensors to record his existence. He claims he's convinced 20 to 30 of his current and former students to do the same. It's all part of an experiment into "existential technology" and "the metaphysics of free will."
DARPA isn't quite so philosophical about LifeLog. But the agency does see some potential battlefield uses for the program.
Indeed, military types are not normally interested in all that philosophical stuff, as they are too busy finding and eliminating enemies. DARPA concentrates on the battlefield and the battlefield is right here on Main Street. DARPA does somersaults to fit LifeLog into a traditional military context but it fails and fails miserably. Obviously, this system is for us, the commoners, and the real enemies of power.
John Pike, director of defense think tank GlobalSecurity.org, said he finds the explanations "hard to believe."
"It looks like an outgrowth of Total Information Awareness and other DARPA homeland security surveillance programs," he added in an e-mail.
Sure, LifeLog could be used to train robotic assistants. But it also could become a way to profile suspected terrorists, said Cory Doctorow, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In other words, Osama bin Laden's agent takes a walk around the block at 10 each morning, buys a bagel and a newspaper at the corner store and then calls his mother. You do the same things - so maybe you're an al Qaeda member, too! (AllCIAduh)
Bingo! And as we know, al-Qaeda now encompasses at lot of behavior, as even garden variety criminals are considered terrorists. But the run-of-the-mill pot smoker or bad check writer pales in comparison to those who are walking around experiencing "discontent" with the government. Obviously, a bad check writer will have at best minimal influence on the government while an al-Qaeda terrorist in a 9/11 truth t-shirt is most certainly a direct challenge and threat to the guys in charge, and that's why DARPA was put on the case.
"The more that an individual's characteristic behavior patterns - 'routines, relationships and habits' - can be represented in digital form, the easier it would become to distinguish among different individuals, or to monitor one," Aftergood, the Federation of American Scientists analyst, wrote in an e-mail.
In its LifeLog report, DARPA makes some nods to privacy protection, like when it suggests that "properly anonymized access to LifeLog data might support medical research and the early detection of an emerging epidemic."
But before these grand plans get underway, LifeLog will start small. Right now, DARPA is asking industry and academics to submit proposals for 18-month research efforts, with a possible 24-month extension. (DARPA is not sure yet how much money it will sink into the program.)
Not that money is an object when the American tax payer is picking up the tab.
Like a game show, winning this DARPA prize eventually will earn the lucky scientists a trip for three to Washington, D.C. Except on this excursion, every participating scientist's e-mail to the travel agent, every padded bar bill and every mad lunge for a cab will be monitored, categorized and later dissected.
And if the scientists are not extra careful, they may end up dead or missing, like not shortage microbiologists, as secret program like to clean up and stragglers who may cause embarrassment or Nuremberg-like trials down the road.
U.S. forces in Iraq soon will be equipped with high-tech equipment that will let them process an Iraqi’s biometric data in minutes and help American soldiers decide whether they should execute the person or not, according to its inventor.
“A war fighter needs to know one of three things: Do I let him go? Keep him? Or shoot him on the spot?” Pentagon weapons designer Anh Duong told the Washington Post for a feature on how this 47-year-old former Vietnamese refugee and mother of four rose to become a top U.S. bomb-maker.
Though Duong is best known for designing high-explosives used to destroy hardened targets, she also supervised the Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facilities project, known as a “lab in a box” for analyzing biometric data, such as iris scans and fingerprints, that have been collected on more than one million Iraqis.
The labs – collapsible, 20-by-20-foot units each with a generator and a satellite link to a biometric data base in West Virginia – will let U.S. forces cross-check data in the field against information collected previously that can be used to identify insurgents. These labs are expected to be deployed across Iraq in early 2008.
Duong said the next step will be to shrink the lab to the size of a “backpack” so soldiers who encounter a suspect “could find out within minutes” if he’s on a terrorist watch list and should be killed.
Duong justified this biometric-data program as a humanitarian way of singling out “bad guys” for elimination while sparing innocent civilians.
“I don’t want My Lai in Iraq,” Duong said. “The biggest difficulty in the global war on terror – just like in Vietnam – is to know who the bad guys are. How do we make sure we don’t kill innocents?”
In Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. military units already are operating under loose rules of engagement that allow them to kill individuals who are identified as suspected terrorists or who show the slightest evidence of being insurgents. American forces also have rounded up tens of thousands of Iraqi military-age males, or MAMs, for detention.
During a summer 2007 trip to Iraq, Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was briefed on U.S. plans to expand the number of Iraqis in American detention by the end of 2008.
“The detainees have risen to over 18,000 and are projected to hit 30,000 (by the U.S. command) by the end of the year and 50,000 by the end of 2008,” Cordesman wrote in his trip report.
The sweeps have enabled the U.S. military to collect biometric data for future use if and when the Iraqis are released back into the general population.
Test Tube
In effect, the Bush administration is transforming Iraq into a test tube for modern techniques of repression, which already include use of night-vision optics on drone aircraft, heat resonance imaging, and firepower that is both deadly and precise.
The new techniques represent a modernization of tactics used in other counterinsurgencies, such as in Vietnam in the 1960s and in Central America in the 1980s.
In Vietnam, U.S. forces planted sensors along infiltration routes for targeting bombing runs against North Vietnamese troops. In Guatemala, security forces were equipped with early laptop computers for use in identifying suspected subversives who would be dragged off buses and summarily executed.
Now, modern technologies are updating these strategies for the 21st century’s “war on terror.”
The U.S. news media mostly has reacted to these developments with gee-whiz enthusiasm, like the Post story about Duong, which breezily depicts her complicated life as a devoted mom whose personal history as a Vietnamese refugee led her to a career developing sophisticated weapons for the U.S. government.
The Post feature article expressed no alarm and no criticism of Duong’s comment about shooting Iraqi suspects “on the spot.” [Washington Post, Dec. 1, 2007]
Similarly, U.S. newspapers have consigned stories about U.S. troops engaging in extrajudicial killings of suspects mostly to pages deep inside the newspapers or have covered the news sympathetically. While some harsh criticism has fallen on trigger-happy Blackwater “security contractors,” U.S. troops have been given largely a free pass.
For instance, no furor arose this fall when the U.S. military, in effect, endorsed claims by members of elite Army sniper units that they have been granted broad discretion in killing any Iraqi who crosses the path of their rifle scopes.
On Nov. 8, a U.S. military jury at Camp Liberty in Iraq acquitted the leader of an Army sniper team in the killings of three Iraqi men south of Baghdad during the early days of the troop “surge” this year.
Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley was found not guilty of murder, though he was convicted of lesser charges that he had planted an AK-47 rifle on one of the dead men and had shown disrespect to a superior officer.
In an e-mail interview with the New York Times, Hensley complained that he should not have even faced a court martial because he was following guidance from two superior officers who wanted him to boost the unit’s kill count.
“Every last man we killed was a confirmed terrorist,” Hensley wrote. “We were praised when bad guys died. We were upbraided when bad guys did not die.” [NYT, Nov. 9, 2007]
Asymmetric Warfare
The case of Army sniper Jorge G. Sandoval Jr., who served under Hensley, also revealed a classified program in which the Pentagon’s Asymmetric Warfare Group encouraged U.S. military snipers in Iraq to drop “bait” – such as electrical cords and ammunition – and then shoot Iraqis who pick up the items, according to evidence in the Sandoval case. [Washington Post, Sept. 24, 2007]
(Like Hensley, Sandoval was acquitted of murder but convicted of a lesser charge, the planting of copper wire on one of the slain Iraqis to make it look as if the dead man were involved in making explosive devices.)
Another case of a targeted killing of a suspected insurgent surfaced at a military court hearing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in mid-September. Two U.S. Special Forces soldiers took part in the execution of an Afghani who was suspected of heading an insurgent group.
As described at the hearing, Staffel and Anderson were leading a team of Afghan soldiers when an informant told them where a suspected insurgent leader was hiding. The U.S.-led contingent found a man believed to be Nawab Buntangyar walking outside his compound near the village of Hasan Kheyl.
While the Americans kept their distance out of fear the suspect might be wearing a suicide vest, the man was questioned about his name and the Americans checked his description against a list from the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan, known as “the kill-or-capture list.”
Concluding that the man was insurgent leader Nawab Buntangyar, Staffel gave the order to shoot, and Anderson – from a distance of about 100 yards away – fired a bullet through the man’s head, killing him instantly.
The soldiers viewed the killing as “a textbook example of a classified mission completed in accordance with the American rules of engagement,” the International Herald Tribune reported. “The men said such rules allowed them to kill Buntangyar, whom the American military had designated a terrorist cell leader, once they positively identified him.” [IHT, Sept. 17, 2007]
According to evidence at the Fort Bragg proceedings, an earlier Army investigation had cleared the two soldiers because they had been operating under “rules of engagement” that empowered them to kill individuals who have been designated “enemy combatants,” even if the targets were unarmed and presented no visible threat.
In effect, Duong’s mobile labs would streamline the process for identifying suspected insurgents like Buntangyar.
Rather than relying on physical descriptions, U.S. forces could scan a suspect’s eyes or check his fingerprints — and instantaneously cross-check it with data stored in West Virginia — before deciding, in Duong’s words, “Do I let him go? Keep him? Or shoot him on the spot?”
See also:
"Finding the Russian scientists may be a problem being that Russia does not have a Social Security System, as here in America, that allows us to MONITOR, TRACK DOWN and CAPTURE an American citizen." - General Colin Powell, chairman US Joint Chiefs of Staff at Pentagon, US Secretary of State, Butcher of Bagdad, Fox News, 06/17/01
LONDON - Hi-tech 'satellite' tagging planned in order to create more space in jails. Civil rights groups and probation officers furious at 'degrading' scheme.
Ministers are planning to implant "machine-readable" microchips under the skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of the electronic tagging scheme that would create more space in British jails.
Amid concerns about the security of existing tagging systems and prison overcrowding, the Ministry of Justice is investigating the use of satellite and radio-wave technology to monitor criminals.
But, instead of being contained in bracelets worn around the ankle, the tiny chips would be surgically inserted under the skin of offenders in the community, to help enforce home curfews. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, as long as two grains of rice, are able to carry scanable personal information about individuals, including their identities, address and offending record.
The tags, labelled "spychips" by privacy campaigners, are already used around the world to keep track of dogs, cats, cattle and airport luggage, but there is no record of the technology being used to monitor offenders in the community. The chips are also being considered as a method of helping to keep order within prisons.
A senior Ministry of Justice official last night confirmed that the department hoped to go even further, by extending the geographical range of the internal chips through a link-up with satellite-tracking similar to the system used to trace stolen vehicles. "All the options are on the table, and this is one we would like to pursue," the source added.
The move is in line with a proposal from Ken Jones, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), that electronic chips should be surgically implanted into convicted paedophiles and sex offenders in order to track them more easily. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is seen as the favoured method of monitoring such offenders to prevent them going near "forbidden" zones such as primary schools.
"We have wanted to take advantage of this technology for several years, because it seems a sensible solution to the problems we are facing in this area," a senior minister said last night. "We have looked at it and gone back to it and worried about the practicalities and the ethics, but when you look at the challenges facing the criminal justice system, it's time has come."
The Government has been forced to review sentencing policy amid serious overcrowding in the nation's jails, after the prison population soared from 60,000 in 1997 to 80,000 today. The crisis meant the number of prisoners held in police cells rose 13-fold last year, with police stations housing offenders more than 60,000 times in 2007, up from 4,617 the previous year. The UK has the highest prison population per capita in western Europe, and the Government is planning for an extra 20,000 places at a cost of £3.8bn – including three gigantic new "superjails" – in the next six years.
More than 17,000 individuals, including criminals and suspects released on bail, are subject to electronic monitoring at any one time, under curfews requiring them to stay at home up to 12 hours a day. But official figures reveal that almost 2,000 offenders a year escape monitoring by tampering with ankle tags or tearing them off. Curfew breaches rose from 11,435 in 2005 to 43,843 in 2006 – up 283 per cent. The monitoring system, which relies on mobile-phone technology, can fail if the network crashes.
A multimillion-pound pilot of satellite monitoring of offenders was shelved last year after a report revealed many criminals simply ditched the ankle tag and separate portable tracking unit issued to them. The "prison without bars" project also failed to track offenders when they were in the shadow of tall buildings.
The Independent on Sunday has now established that ministers have been assessing the merits of cutting-edge technology that would make it virtually impossible for individuals to remove their electronic tags.
The tags, injected into the back of the arm with a hypodermic needle, consist of a toughened glass capsule holding a computer chip, a copper antenna and a "capacitor" that transmits data stored on the chip when prompted by an electromagnetic reader.
But details of the dramatic option for tightening controls over Britain's criminals provoked an angry response from probation officers and civil-rights groups. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "If the Home Office doesn't understand why implanting a chip in someone is worse than an ankle bracelet, they don't need a human-rights lawyer; they need a common-sense bypass.
"Degrading offenders in this way will do nothing for their rehabilitation and nothing for our safety, as some will inevitably find a way round this new technology."
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said the proposal would not make his members' lives easier and would degrade their clients. He added: "I have heard about this suggestion, but we feel the system works well enough as it is. Knowing where offenders like paedophiles are does not mean you know what they are doing.
"This is the sort of daft idea that comes up from the department every now and then, but tagging people in the same way we tag our pets cannot be the way ahead. Treating people like pieces of meat does not seem to represent an improvement in the system to me."
The US market leader VeriChip Corp, whose parent company has been selling radio tags for animals for more than a decade, has sold 7,000 RFID microchips worldwide, of which about 2,000 have been implanted in humans. The company claims its VeriChips are used in more than 5,000 installations, crossing healthcare, security, government and industrial markets, but they have also been used to verify VIP membership in nightclubs, automatically gaining the carrier entry – and deducting the price of their drinks from a pre-paid account.
The possible value of the technology to the UK's justice system was first highlighted 18 months ago, when Acpo's Mr Jones suggested the chips could be implanted into sex offenders. The implants would be tracked by satellite, enabling authorities to set up "zones", including schools, playgrounds and former victims' homes, from which individuals would be barred.
"If we are prepared to track cars, why don't we track people?" Mr Jones said. "You could put surgical chips into those of the most dangerous sex offenders who are willing to be controlled."
The case for: 'We track cars, so why not people?'
The Government is struggling to keep track of thousands of offenders in the community and is troubled by an overcrowded prison system close to bursting. Internal tagging offers a solution that could impose curfews more effectively than at present, and extend the system by keeping sex offenders out of "forbidden areas". "If we are prepared to track cars, why don't we track people?" said Ken Jones, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo).
Officials argue that the internal tags enable the authorities to enforce thousands of court orders by ensuring offenders remain within their own walls during curfew hours – and allow the immediate verification of ID details when challenged.
The internal tags also have a use in maintaining order within prisons. In the United States, they are used to track the movement of gang members within jails.
Offenders themselves would prefer a tag they can forget about, instead of the bulky kit carried around on the ankle.
The case against: 'The rest of us could be next'
Professionals in the criminal justice system maintain that the present system is 95 per cent effective. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is unproven. The technology is actually more invasive, and carries more information about the host. The devices have been dubbed "spychips" by critics who warn that they would transmit data about the movements of other people without their knowledge.
Consumer privacy expert Liz McIntyre said a colleague had already proved he could "clone" a chip. "He can bump into a chipped person and siphon the chip's unique signal in a matter of seconds," she said.
One company plans deeper implants that could vibrate, electroshock the implantee, broadcast a message, or serve as a microphone to transmit conversations. "Some folks might foolishly discount all of these downsides and futuristic nightmares since the tagging is proposed for criminals like rapists and murderers," Ms McIntyre said. "The rest of us could be next."
Congressional Research Service
Library of Congress
The proposed acquisition of six major U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World and Unocal
by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has sparked intense concerns
among some Members of Congress and the public and has reignited the debate over
what role foreign acquisitions play in U.S. national security. While the United States
actively promotes internationally the policy of relaxing rules concerning foreign
investment, including the national treatment of foreign firms, some in Congress and
others question some aspects of this policy as it relates to allowing foreign competitors
unlimited access to the Nation’s industrial base. Much of this debate focuses on the
activities of a relatively obscure committee, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States (CFIUS) and the Exon-Florio provision, which gives the President broad
powers to block certain types of foreign investment. This report will be updated as
warranted by events.
According to the Department of Commerce,1 foreigners invested $113 billion in U.S.
businesses and real estate in 2004, which represents nearly a tripling in the amount
invested in 2003. This amount, however, is about half as much as U.S. firms invested
abroad and far below the record $300 billion foreigners invested in 2000.
The cumulative amount, or stock, of foreign direct investment in the United States
on a historical cost basis3 increased by $38 billion in 2003 to nearly $1.4 trillion.
With over $230 billion invested in the United States, Great Britain is the largest
foreign direct investor. Japan has moved into the position as the second largest foreign
direct investor in the U.S. economy with over $159 billion in investments. Following the
Japanese are the Germans ($149 billion) and Dutch ($146 billion), with the French close
behind ($143 billion). Recently, China has attracted particular attention as a result of a
number of proposed acquisitions. Worldwide, Chinese acquisition transactions jumped
from $2-$3 billion in previous years to $23 billion so far in 2005.
In 1988, amid concerns over foreign acquisition of certain types of U.S. firms,
particularly by Japanese firms, Congress approved the Exon-Florio provision of the
Defense Production Act.6 This statute grants the President the authority to block proposed
or pending foreign acquisitions of “persons engaged in interstate commerce in the United
States” that threaten to impair the national security. In subsequent legislation, Congress
directed that this process be applied “in any instance in which an entity controlled by or
acting on behalf of a foreign government seeks to engage in any merger, acquisition, or
takeover which could result in control of a person engaged in interstate commerce in the
United States that could affect the national security of the United States.” Many in
Congress were concerned at the time that foreign takeovers of U.S. firms could not be
stopped unless the President declared a national emergency or regulators invoked federal
antitrust, environmental, or securities laws. The Exon-Florio provision grants the
President the authority to take what action he considers to be “appropriate” to suspend or
prohibit proposed or pending foreign acquisitions, mergers, or takeovers of persons
engaged in interstate commerce in the United States which threaten to impair the national
security.
The authority to administer the Exon-Florio provision was delegated to the
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS),8 which is housed in the
Department of the Treasury. The Committee had been established under a previous
Executive Order with broad responsibilities, but few powers.9 It was originally
established with eight members, but has been expanded to twelve over time. The twelve
members include the Secretaries of State, the Treasury, Defense, Homeland Security, and
Commerce; the United States Trade Representative; the Chairman of the Council of
Economic Advisers; the Attorney General; the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget; the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy; the Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs; and the Assistant to the President for Economic
Policy.10 The Committee has 30 days to decide whether to investigate a case and an
additional 45 days to make its recommendation. Once the recommendation is made, the
President has 15 days to act.
According to one source,13 CFIUS has received more than 1,500
notifications, of which it conducted a full investigation of 25 cases. Of these 25 cases,
thirteen transactions were withdrawn upon notice that CFIUS would conduct a full review
and twelve of the remaining transactions cases were sent to the President. Of these twelve
transactions, one was prohibited.
Country music icon Willie Nelson said it would have been “one of the dumbest things” he could have ever done to accept an invitation from the state of Texas to have a toll road named after him.
“First of all I don’t like toll roads and I wouldn’t like for a guy to drive up on the Willie Nelson road and have to spend his last dollar getting from point A to point B and I didn’t want a toll road named after me - that’s ridiculous - I’d rather have an electric chair named after me,” Nelson told the Alex Jones Show yesterday.
Nelson said he initially thought about the proposal but immediately rejected it after he found out the true intention of the toll road, adding, “It didn’t seem right and still doesn’t seem right.”
Nelson’s fellow music star Jimmy Vaughan has been active in speaking out against the Trans Texas Corridor and the NAFTA Superhighway and he was one of the individuals who advised Willie to reject the proposal.
“I heard from Jimmy and I heard from some other folks who said that hey this is something you want to think about because it’s different from what they’re telling you and when I started finding out how different it was - today people are having to pay to drive on a road that was free for them yesterday and that didn’t seem right.”
US citizens will be forced to adopt a de-facto national identification card and have their freedom of mobility defined by behavioral fealty to the government under proposals set to derive from NAFTA superhighway toll road systems and the implementation of the North American Union.
Similar toll systems snaking their way from the southern and northern borders cutting through major American cities will force American citizens to submit to having RFID enabled identification cards which contain an ever-increasing array of information about their personal lives.
To even be allowed to use major roads and highways, US citizens will be subject to a criminal background check and the government will have the ability to pinpoint their particular RFID signal and remotely block it from central computer mainframes - effectively abolishing freedom of mobility in America.
Nelson said it was “one of the dumbest things I could have done” to have the toll road named after him.
Click here to listen to the MP3 audio of the interview.
February 19th, 2008
Willie Nelson: Impeach Bush, “Throw The Bastards Out” - "If you break the law you have to pay for it one way or another and if these guys haven’t broke the law nobody has. We went through a couple of elections now and we didn’t do anything, we thought we did but come to find out that the voting machines are crooked, everything’s stacked against us, the politicians that we vote for won’t stay and fight and they won’t count the votes. It could be anything and anything will work because they have everyone scared to death, I just think there are people out there who will do anything to stay in power, anything to keep what they have, they’ve already proven they’ll do anything to keep it. I was talking about the third building that nothing hit and yet it fell as if it was hit the same way, all three buildings fell the same way, but the third building wasn’t hit by anything." 9/11 was an inside job.
The former "Orange Route," now known as the Knoxville Parkway, could soon become a reality as a toll road.
The Knoxville Chamber asked Tennessee Department of Transportation officials for more information on the parkway.
It would connect I-40 in Loudon County to I-75 in Anderson County and could extend east from there.
TDOT described two options for funding, the first being the traditional method.
The second possibility is a tollway, and it is one local leaders are considering.
TDOT defers to local government to decide if a toll route is the path forward but says it would allow the project to move ahead much faster than traditional financing.
Comments:
I have a question on this issue that has been bothering me since it originally was discussed years ago. We already have I640. No, it is not a MAJOR bypass as bigger cities have but we do have a bypass. If you take people who are traveling several miles north of the city and divert them to several miles south of the city, are we not potentially losing thousands and eventually millions of dollars to the local economy? I understand the traffic issues but if you give Bob and Jane from Lexington, KY a direct route to Disneyworld without ever having to even know that they passed Knoxville along the way, are our fiscal managers not cutting our heads off for us to bleed slowly to our death?
Redflex Traffic Systems - "Redflex Traffic Systems has been exporting successful automated traffic enforcement programs to municipalities worldwide since 1997. With offices in Australia (head office), the USA and Europe, Redflex products include Toll camera enforcement solutions."
NASHVILLE - The Senate has unanimously passed a bill to require companies contracting with the state to operate toll roads or bridges to be majority American owned.
Sen. Tim Burchett, a Knoxville Republican, says he introduced the bill for national security reasons.
The Legislature last year approved a pilot program that would allow one toll road and one toll bridge project in Tennessee. No project has yet been approved.
The House Transportation Committee is scheduled to take up the companion bill on Tuesday.
More details as they develop online and in Friday's News Sentinel.
February 28, 2008
Redflex Traffic Systems - "Redflex Traffic Systems has been exporting successful automated traffic enforcement programs to municipalities worldwide since 1997. With offices in Australia (head office), the USA and Europe, Redflex products include Toll camera enforcement solutions."
East Tennessee is inching closer and closer to the state's first toll road.
Wednesday morning, regional leaders who comprise the Transportation Planning Organization approved $250,000 to continue studying what to do with the Knoxville Parkway project. Now, they want to know what happens if they make it a toll road.
The Knoxville Parkway is a 26-mile stretch of highway that would bypass downtown Knoxville, connecting I-40 near the Loudon-Knox County line to I-75 near the Norris/Clinton exit in Anderson County. It was formerly known as the "orange route".
TDOT is also considering the idea of a second route that would connect I-75 in Anderson County to I-40 near Sevier County, essentially completing a half circle bypass north of Knoxville.
To many drivers in East Tennessee, the idea of a toll doesn't go over very well.
"When you said toll, that means money, and as tight as things are now..." Clinton driver Mark Merritt said doubtfully.
"Who wants to pay to drive across a piece of your own state?" Selena Foust of Andersonville said.
But local leaders and TDOT say there are definite benefits if they choose to connect I-75 with a tollway.
"I think right now, the $600 million to just complete the western segment is going to be very difficult to raise," TDOT Chief of Environment and Planning Ed Cole said.
The issue revolves around cash. Construction projects in Tennessee are required to basically work in a pay-as-you-go method. As projects get money each budget cycle, they can plan and build.
With a tollway, they're allowed to build with credit.
The bottom line when those rules apply to the Knoxville Parkway is a matter of years. With traditional funding, the project will likely be completed around the year 2023. With a toll, it could be done by 2015.
Now, regional leaders are moving forward, asking for more information. In the feasibility study ordered Wednesday, they'll find out how much drivers would be willing to pay and get more detailed construction cost estimates. The study will likely be complete late this summer or early fall.
In order for TDOT to move ahead and start construction, they'll have to get approval from the local elected officials who serve on that Transportation Planning Organization.
"It's a joint process. The department is not interested in pursuing a toll project without full support from local government," Cole said.
"In other states that we go through, when we travel, I just think it's an aggravation," Merritt said. "I don't really want to see it come here."
Give us your questions and feedback
We're just over two months away from the biggest detour East Tennessee has ever seen. At midnight May 1, TDOT will shut down I-40 between Hall of Fame Drive and James White Parkway in downtown Knoxville for 14 months, as they widen the road. It's part of the huge SmartFIX40 project that has affect our drive for a couple of years now. As 10 News works on a special set to air in April, we'd like to hear from you. E-mail us with your questions and comments on the project.
2/28/2008
Redflex Traffic Systems - "Redflex Traffic Systems has been exporting successful automated traffic enforcement programs to municipalities worldwide since 1997. With offices in Australia (head office), the USA and Europe, Redflex products include Toll camera enforcement solutions."
Motorists will be targeted by a new generation of road cameras which work out how many people are in a car by measuring the amount of bodily fluid it contains.
The latest snooping device on the nation’s roads aims to penalise lone drivers who abuse car-sharing lanes, and is part of a Government effort to combat congestion at busy times.
The cameras work by sending an infrared beam through the windscreen of vehicles which detects the unique make-up of blood and water content in human skin.
The system’s inventors believe it will catch out motorists who try to fool existing CCTV road cameras by placing mannequins in passenger seats or fixing photographs to windscreens.
It will at first be used to police car-sharing lanes in Leeds, but councils across the country have already expressed an interest in using them.
By Michael Silence
Knoxville News Sentinel
March 27, 2008
According to the car blog Jalopnik and the National Motorists Association, Nashville is one of six cities (also including Chattanooga) accused of shortening the amber cycle on certain traffic light intersections in a reported effort to pick the pockets of unsuspecting drivers.
Union City, California; Lubbock, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Springfield, Missouri; Dallas, Texas and Chattanooga, Tennessee — you're all on notice. We already hate the idea of the omnipresent big brother handing out speeding tickets through the watchful eye of the traffic camera, but when the deck is stacked in the states' favor, it's time to call shenanigans. All six of these cities have been accused and found guilty of excessively short amber cycles on certain traffic camera equipped intersections — a convenient way to pickpocket unsuspecting drivers as they pass though an intersection.
Traffic cameras are claimed to be used to discourage running red lights, and improving public safety, even though studies are beginning to show evidence to the contrary. We'll be happy when the states figure out how to run their respective governments without traffic fines acting as unlevied taxes against the citizens.
Even without red light cameras, police in Nashville, Tennessee have been earning hundreds of thousands in revenue by trapping motorists in conventional ticket traps at city intersections with the shortest yellow warning time.
In 2006, Nashville resident Joe Savage obtained the data on every red light running ticket issued on Broadway street since 2000. He said that yellow lights are longer at intersections along Broadway until the areas where police are issuing tickets. At those locations, Savage clocked the yellow signal time at less than 3 seconds, in violation of both state law and federal regulations.
For some reason, this is just now making the Internet. Also, according to www.speedtrap.org, Nashville is one of the worst speed trap cities in the country. Have these people ever driven here in rush hour? Or been on the 440 Speedway?
Some local governments have ignored the safety benefit of increasing the yellow light time and decided to install red-light cameras, shorten the yellow light duration, and collect the profits instead.
Here are some of the cities that have been caught with short yellow light times over the past few years:
Important note: These news stories were collected from the archives of TheNewspaper.com, an excellent resource for anyone interested in traffic laws and other motorist issues. If you subscribe to TheNewspaper.com’s feed, you’ll never miss the latest news. It makes an excellent complement to this blog.
1) Chattanooga, Tennessee
The city of Chattanooga was forced refund $8800 in red light cameras tickets issued to motorists trapped by an illegally short yellow time. The refund only occurred after a motorist challenged his citation by insisting that the yellow light time of 3.0 seconds was too short. LaserCraft, the private vendor that runs the camera program in return for a cut of the profits, provided the judge with a computer database that asserted the yellow was 3.8 seconds at that location.
The judge then personally checked the intersection in question was timed at three seconds while other nearby locations had about four seconds of yellow warning. City traffic engineer John Van Winkle told Bean that “a mix up with the turn arrow” was responsible and that the bare minimum for the light should be 3.9 seconds.
An investigation by KDFW-TV, a local TV station, found that of the ten cameras that issued the greatest number of tickets in the city, seven were located at intersections where the yellow duration is shorter than the bare minimum recommended by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The city’s second highest revenue producing camera, for example, was located at the intersection of Greenville Avenue and Mockingbird Lane. It issued 9407 tickets worth $705,525 between January 1 and August 31, 2007. At the intersections on Greenville Avenue leading up to the camera intersection, however, yellows are at least 3.5 or 4.0 seconds in duration, but the ticket-producing intersection’s yellow stands at just 3.15 seconds. That is 0.35 seconds shorter than TxDOT’s recommended bare minimum. Dallas likewise installed the cameras at locations with existing short yellow times. A total of twenty-one camera intersections in Dallas had yellow times below TxDOT’s bare minimum recommended amount.
The ticket camera program in Dallas made the news recently for shutting down some of its cameras because they were no longer profitable.
The city of Springfield, Missouri prepared for the installation of a red light camera system in 2007 by slashing the yellow warning time by one second at 105 state-owned intersection signals across the city.
The city defended its effort to the Springfield News-Leader by claiming it was “standardizing” and had increased the yellow time at 136 city-operated lights to meet national standards. During the city council meeting last October where the red light camera ordinance was approved, however, Assistant Director of Public Works Earl Newman gave a different explanation for the reduction. Newman said he was, “concerned that many individuals run the light if the light remained yellow too long.”
KBCD, a local television station, exposed the city’s short timing of yellow lights at eight of the twelve intersections where the devices were to be installed.
Prior to the news investigation, Lubbock City Engineer Jere Hart assured city council members that he would not increase yellow times. According to the city council’s traffic commission minutes of September 19, 2006, Jere said, “if [the red light camera program is] implemented, the public would prefer to have an increased amber cycle,” but he stated that, “the program will not adjust the amber/yellow time.”
Shortly after the investigation became public, red-light cameras were installed in Lubbock. However, after they proved to be both unprofitable (due in part to a new state law giving 50% of the ticket camera profit to the state) and unsafe (accidents increased where the cameras were installed), they were taken down.
Even without red light cameras, police in Nashville, Tennessee have been earning hundreds of thousands in revenue by trapping motorists in conventional ticket traps at city intersections with the shortest yellow warning time.
In 2006, Nashville resident Joe Savage obtained the data on every red light running ticket issued on Broadway street since 2000. He said that yellow lights are longer at intersections along Broadway until the areas where police are issuing tickets. At those locations, Savage clocked the yellow signal time at less than 3 seconds, in violation of both state law and federal regulations. A local newspaper, The Nashville Scene, then confirmed his findings.
In 2005, Union City, California was caught trapping motorists with a yellow signal time 1.3 seconds below the minimum established by state law. As a result, the city was forced to refund more than $1 million in red light camera fines.
The city’s violation came to light after Dave Goodson, an engineer, received a ticket and realized that he did not have sufficient time to stop before the light had turned red. As a result of his inquiries, Union City’s traffic engineers admitted that they had set the yellow signal time at Union City Boulevard and Lowry Road at 3 seconds, despite the state law mandating the time be 4.3 seconds or greater.
Authorities said that the yellow was too short long before the cameras were installed, but that no effective system was in place to verify the timing of the traffic signals despite their direct impact on safety.
These are only the cities that have been caught; it’s likely that this happens much more than the general public has been led to believe. Many cities avoid the bad publicity involved with shortening yellow lights by installing the cameras at intersections with inadequate yellow light times from the beginning.
If you or a family member receive an unjustified red-light violation ticket, it may be worth your time to check the yellow light duration at the intersection where the ticket was given out.
Also, if you know of any city currently shortening yellow lights in your area, let everyone know by posting it the comments of this post.
Aurora, Colorado proposes to expand lucrative red light camera program despite massive increase in the number of accidents at monitored intersections.
Red light cameras in Aurora, Colorado have failed to yield any reduction in the overall number of accidents since the devices were installed in May 2005. Nonetheless, city officials have approved a measure that will allow the expansion of the existing four-intersection setup to one covering up to twenty-five city locations. The devices were successful between 2006 and 2007 in issuing 19,087 tickets worth $1,431,525.
"We think there's a value to taking the program to the next step," Police Chief Daniel Oates told the Rocky Mountain News newspaper.
At three of the four ticketing locations, rear end collisions increased dramatically from 2005 to 2006. At Mississippi Avenue and Potomac, rear end collisions jumped 175 percent. At Alameda Avenue and Abilene Street, the increase was 100 percent. Only one intersection saw a 60 percent drop in one specific type of accident, likely as a result of the statistical phenomenon known as regression to the mean. This happens when a camera is installed at a location with an unusually high number of accidents in one year. As the number of accidents returns to the "normal" level, city officials credit the change to their camera program.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is scheduled to visit BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport Monday to announce changes at airport security checkpoints.
Chertoff [who is a citizen of Israel whose mother was a terrorist for Mossad] will demonstrate what is called "Checkpoint Evolution."
The Transportation Security Administration Web site features videos to explain the features and goals of the equipment.
According to the Web site, the checkpoints will feature soothing music to calm passengers, easy-to-read signs [in Mexican and Commie Chinese] and Plexiglas conveyor belts allowing passengers to see their luggage move through the inspection [Constitution waiver] process.
The system also uses a new full body scanner. The TSA says it doesn't show a person's face and says images are deleted immediately after they are reviewed [by 1,000s of illegal aliens employed by TSA as private airport security screeners]. [Why not just put a bag over their head and strip search them for real?]
A Cordova woman apparently saw red when she opened her mail and found a traffic citation from one of the city's automated traffic cameras.
Now she is facing not only a $50 fine for running a red light but also a misdemeanor charge of harassment.
Alison Reed, 37, is accused of sending five harassing e-mails over the weekend to a host of elected Germantown city officials and city staff. Germantown Police Lt. Ed McGee said she was arrested without incident Monday.
The e-mails were often rambling but included vague threats.
One stated in part, "If you ever give another citizen of MY country a ticket through your detestable and illegal traffic cameras, I will destroy your entire city and devastate your people with such wrath as has never been seen before."
Another said in part "... take them down or your entire staff will be removed either with force or death ..."
McGee said the police mailed a ticket to Reed on April 21 citing her with running a red light on April 18.
Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy let the aldermen know about the arrest during Monday night's executive session before the regular Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting.
City Admin. Patrick Lawton indicated Reed is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation.
The Tennessee state House of Representatives will consider enacting legislation as early as today to ban the practice of shortening the duration of yellow lights where red light cameras are installed. The measure, introduced in the form of an amendment by retiring Representative Phillip Pinion (D-Union City), has already passed the state Senate.
"No state agency or any political subdivision of the state that installs, owns, operates, or maintains a traffic-control signal light in an intersection that employs a surveillance camera for the enforcement or monitoring of traffic violations shall reduce the time exposure of the yellow light at such intersection with the intended purpose of increasing the number of traffic violations," House Bill 3854 states.
The bill coincides with an expected vote on legislation that, although promoted as a limitation on their use, gives the green light to cities throughout the state to install automated ticketing machines - view bill. The net effect of the yellow light limitation would be negligible, however. There are only a handful of documented cases of cities shortening yellow light duration after the installation of red light cameras.
The more significant problem, as documented in a report by the office of the US House Majority Leader in 2001, is that cities following national signal timing guidelines have systematically given motorists less warning of impending red lights (view report). Cities and traffic camera vendors have been found that intersections with the shortest yellow lights are the most profitable locations for cameras -- but the signals in many cases have been short for ten years or more - see San Diego memo. In 2005, the Texas Transportation Institute reported that cities interested in reducing accidents could increase yellow signal timing by one second above the recommended ITE minimum value - view report.
A full copy of the legislation is available in a 45k PDF file at the source link below.
Source: House Bill 3854, Tennessee General Assembly, 5/1/2008
Facing a budget deficit that could reach $800 million, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen (D) is looking at all options to bring the books back into balance. Bredesen's former legal counsel, Robert E. Cooper, Jr. was appointed state attorney general two years ago. Last week, Cooper did his part by issuing a ruling designed to promote the use of photo ticketing by taking on constitutional arguments commonly leveled against such programs.
"It is an accepted principle that enactments of the General Assembly are presumed constitutional," Cooper wrote. "Whenever the constitutionality of a statute is attacked, courts are required to indulge every presumption in favor of its validity and resolve any doubt in favor of, rather than against, the constitutionality of the act."
"If any reasonable justification for the law may be conceived, it must be upheld by the courts," Cooper said, citing the Tennessee Court of Appeals. "Absent implication of a fundamental right, a legislative act will withstand a substantive due process challenge if the government identifies a legitimate governmental interest that the legislative body could rationally conclude was served by the legislative act."
The appeals court made similar arguments in a July decision that stated there is no problem in allowing prosecutors to presume the owner of a vehicle is guilty. Shifting the burden of proof presents no constitutional difficulty as long as the state can establish that a vehicle committed a crime (read decision). According to Cooper, the only protection the legislature allows is that private vendors may not decide who is guilty.
"The statute makes no provision for a private company to monitor and control a traffic light or to issue a citation," Cooper wrote. "Applicable law enforcement personnel are the only ones presently authorized to issue this type of citation. It is the opinion of this office that the statute prohibits private vendors from making the determination, based upon photographic evidence, that a traffic violation has occurred, since the statute specifically requires the applicable law enforcement office to make such determination."
All cities with photo enforcement programs hire private contractors to operate every aspect of the ticket issuing process. Although these programs often claim a police officer personally reviews every photo, cross-examinations in court trials have shown this usually amounts to a "bulk approval" where the officer clicks a mouse button and the vendor attaches his signature digitally to every ticket before dropping it in the mail (view San Diego, California court decision). If Cooper is right, the "monitoring" of video footage cannot be outsourced and the bulk approval process would be illegal under Tennessee law.
A copy of the ruling is available in a 35k PDF file at the source link below.
"It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that." - Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, and Jes Beard, attorney at law in Chattanooga, Tennessee, How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR
I was told this was done to someone else, but didn't have any reason to think it would happen to me.
Knoxville News "Sentinel" is a monopoly daily newspaper in Tennessee. News articles have Comments allowed, requiring signing in under a screen name. Now I know why.
This allows censorship of the First Amendment. Constitutions normally don't apply to corporations. But KNS got a $20-million TIF welfare grant from the city taxslaves, so that makes it a govt contractor.
The sneaky part is that when sheeple are banned from making comments, the person is never notified of that ban. The post appears on the forum forever, so far as he can see.
But that comment is censored from everyone else. Very very sneaky. He can literally post for years without knowing that nobody else can read his comments.
I finally checked my comments using Proxify.com, which uses anonymous IP address. Damn if they weren't all censored!
I'll be doing a TV show on this scam. Should be fun.
Imagine if forums start using this system of censorship.
The Sentinel (the name of a horror movie) previously censored my brother's 8-page political ad that cost him the election. I'll read the entire advert nailing judge Swann for his 4 marriages, and for being a convicted deadbeat dad. Swann was picked by the KNS editorial board to run divorce court to terrorize Knox County by jailing men and women, to extort all their family's wealth as ransom, including my brother the lawyer.
Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper probably does not have the final word on the legality of red-light cameras, but his recent opinion on the subject is another affirmation that the mechanism used to catch motorists who run traffic lights is a valid use of municipal authority.
Cooper issued his opinion at the request of state Sen. Steve Southerland, R-Greeneville, about the validity of the cameras. His opinion follows rulings by the state Court of Appeals in July and noted that a federal court has upheld Chicago’s red-light camera program, in which owners of cited vehicles are not permitted to shift responsibility if someone else had been driving the vehicle.
Cooper’s opinion, released earlier this month, stated that the red-light cameras do not violate the legal rights of individual motorists. However, law enforcement officers — not the owners of the cameras — are the proper ones to determine if the evidence is sufficient to issue a citation.
There is no provision, Cooper said, “for a private company to monitor and control a traffic light or to issue a citation. Applicable law enforcement personnel are the only ones presently authorized to issue this type of citation.”
Ron Mills, deputy city law director, said the opinion “further emphasizes that the system the city of Knoxville had in place complies with state law and the state and federal constitutions.”
Mills added that, after the state law governing red-light cameras took effect, the Knoxville ordinance was amended slightly to ensure it was in full compliance.
Cooper included the Court of Appeals decision last July in his research. That ruling upheld the city’s red-light cameras, stating that Knoxville had not exceeded its authority by enacting the ordinance governing the use of the cameras.
Driving is not a fundamental right, Cooper said. That might be in contrast to what many motorists might think. The city’s ordinance will withstand constitutional scrutiny if it can be shown that the law is based on a rational and legitimate state interest.
The attorney general also said that the cameras do not violate individual privacy rights. The camera takes a picture of a vehicle, he said, not the driver. The citation is mailed to the owner, regardless whether that owner was operating the vehicle at the time of the violation. This issue is similar to that of parking tickets issued in Tennessee cities and counties.
Cooper also noted a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that there is a lesser expectation of privacy while operating a motor vehicle than in other areas of life.
Red-light cameras came to Knoxville in June 2006. Between that time and June 30, 2008, the city has collected more than $1.7 million from the program.
Opponents no doubt will challenge the attorney general’s opinion, but acknowledging previous rulings, it will take strong evidence to convince a court that red-light cameras should not be here to stay.
"It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that." - Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, and Jes Beard, attorney at law in Chattanooga, Tennessee, How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR
"The Right of the Citizen to travel upon public highways by automobile is not a mere privilege which may be permitted or prohibited at will, but the common Right which he has under his Right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, under Constitutional guarantee." - II Am.Jur. (1st) Constitutional Law, Sect.329
"The claim and exercise of a constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime." - Miller v. US, 230 F 486, 489
"Govt control of communications and transportation." - Communist Manifesto, 6th Plank
COP. 2. to steal; filch. 3. to buy (narcotics). - Random House Unabridged Dictionary 2006
An appellate court on Monday ruled that key evidence used in Ohio speed traps was not admissible. With millions in local government revenue at stake, the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Ninth District found the accuracy of laser-based speed guns (lidar) to be unproven. The decision could inspire challenges to laser tickets throughout the state.
The present case began when Ohio State Trooper Dennis Matulin hid along the median of Interstate 71 with an LTI 20-20 laser speed gun waiting for the device to indicate that someone had exceeded the speed limit. Matulin charged that when Donald Miko's semi truck passed his location, the lidar gun displayed a reading of 67 MPH. The limit for trucks on the road is 55 and for cars 65.
At trial in the Medina County Municipal Court, Miko objected that the trooper's LTI 20-20 had never been proved reliable in an Ohio court of law. The prosecutor merely asserted the contrary. The magistrate quickly agreed, saying, "Yes, the court had done so by prior judgment entry." The court imposed a $100 fine and two points against Miko's commercial driving license. Appellate Judge Clair E. Dickinson scolded the lower court for violating the rule that a county court must publish, or report, a "judgment entry" used for the purpose of taking judicial notice.
"Nobody has brought a reported decision of the Medina Municipal Court considering the accuracy of the LTI 20-20 device to this court's attention," Judge Clair E. Dickinson wrote. "The trial court, therefore, was not authorized to take judicial notice of the scientific accuracy of the LTI 20-20 laser device by Rule 201(B)(1) of the Ohio Rules of Evidence."
Dickinson went on to point out that the unreported case which the Medina court cited to convict Miko did not include any required testimony from expert witnesses. As a result, the court overturned Miko's conviction.
"In the absence of a reference to a case in which the trial court determined, based on scientific testimony it heard in that case, that the LTI 20-20 laser device is scientifically accurate, the trial court was not authorized... to take judicial notice of its accuracy," the appeals court concluded. "Inasmuch as the trial court was not authorized to take judicial notice..., it erred by doing so."
The British media has been scathing in its treatment of the inaccuracy of the LTI 20-20 speed gun. The basic operation problem is that handheld laser speed guns must take two separate measurements of distance to generate a speed estimate. If, while taking a speed reading, an officer's hand twitches slightly, the laser beam can "slip" from one portion of a vehicle to another. The extra distance measured in the second reading is then added to the calculation that determines the speed readout. For example, if the speed gun's aim point slips from the windshield to the grill, the speed reading will read 8 MPH too high. London's Daily Mail newspaper, the BBC, and ITV network have each run stories exposing fundamental flaws in the way lidar guns estimate speed.
A full copy of the ruling is available in a 35k PDF file at the source link below.
Source: Ohio v. Miko, Ohio Court of Appeals for the Ninth District, 4/28/2008
The middle classes have lost confidence in the police, a stark report has warned.
They fear they have been alienated by a service which routinely targets ordinary people rather than serious criminals, simply to fill Government crime quotas.
The attitude of some officers has also led to spiralling complaints about neglect of duty and rudeness.
The report from the Civitas think-tank says incidents which would once have been ignored are now treated as crimes - including a case of children chalking a pavement.
Its author, respected journalist Harriet Sergeant, says she was also told of a student being arrested, held for five hours and cautioned for keeping a London Underground lift door open with his foot.
The report warns that a generation of young people - the police's favourite soft targets - are being criminalised, putting their future prospects at risk.
Some offences being prosecuted are now so minor that senior officers have even begun talks with the U.S. authorities to prevent such a 'criminal record' stopping decent citizens obtaining a visa to cross the Atlantic.
Meanwhile responses to crimes such as burglary are slow and statements given by victims of serious crime are often left lying idle for months, the report warns.
An apparent emphasis on motoring crimes is another negative factor.
Miss Sergeant warns: 'The loss of public confidence is a serious matter.
'The police cannot police without the backing of society. Without trust and consensus it is very difficult and costly to maintain law and order.'
Her report says: 'Complaints against the police have risen, with much of the increase coming from law-abiding, middle-class, middle-aged and retired people who no longer feel the police are on their side.'
In 2006-7, there were 29,637 complaints - the most since records began 17 years ago.
Miss Sergeant said this was due in part to the law-abiding middle-classes becoming upset by the 'rudeness and behaviour' of officers.
The report details how officers are expected to reach a certain number of 'sanction detections' a month by charging, cautioning or fining an 'offender'.
Arresting or fining someone for a trifling offence - such as a child stealing a Mars bar - is a good way of hitting the target and pleasing the Home Office.
Amazingly, the chocolate theft ranks as highly as catching a killer.
Miss Sergeant says performance-related bonuses of between £10,000 and £15,000 a year for police commanders depend partly on reaching such targets.
This leads them to put pressure on frontline officers to make arrests for the most minor misdemeanours.
Officers said at the end of a month, when there was pressure to hit the target for that period, they would pursue young men as the most likely 'offenders'.
Offences could include scrawling a name on a bus stop in felt-tip or playing ball games in the street.
One officer was so concerned he told his teenage son to be careful at the end of each month.
The pamphlet, parts of which were serialised by the Daily Mail earlier this year, says the police themselves are angry at the way they have to 'make fools of themselves'.
There were high levels of 'bitterness and frustration' and the targets were 'bitterly resented'.
One officer told how he was pressed to charge children playing with a tree with 'harassment'.
The same offence was used against a drunken student dancing in flowerbeds, who aimed a kick at a flower.
A notorious Tennessee speed trap may find itself losing every penny collected from its major source of speeding ticket revenue. According to a city court judge's ruling last week, because Coopertown had no jurisdiction to issue tickets on Interstate 24. Now lawyers involved in the case want to file a class action lawsuit to force the town to refund every dime it has collected in violation of the law.
Coopertown achieved national fame after its mayor, Danny Crosby, was first thrown out of office only to be reinstated upon appeal. According to court testimony, Crosby instructed police officers to "ticket soldier boys" from nearby Fort Campbell in addition to focusing on out-of-town and minority drivers.
"These instances could be labeled as and could be said to range from bigotry, sexism or utter foolishness to insidious discrimination or the purposeful violation of the constitutional rights of others," Judge Laurence M. McMillan, Jr. wrote in his 2006 decision reinstating Crosby. "How much of the facts of this case can be resolved as small town politics and how much may constitute the actual misuse of power is a decision to be made by this court, but in the future may be made by the voters of the city of Coopertown." (View decision)
Crosby's latest trouble stems from the May 1 traffic stop of motorist Jeff Davis whom Coopertown police accused of tailgating. Davis insisted the charge was ridiculous and, with the help of attorney Gregory Smith, he argued that Coopertown neglected to follow a state law requiring each small town to register itself with the state police each year before setting out to patrol an interstate highway. As reported by the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle newspaper, that was enough for City Court Judge Earl Porter.
"The Coopertown Police officer and this honorable court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over traffic citations issued on any portion of the national system of interstate and defense highways as of May 1, 2008 because (Coopertown) did not give proper notification of the town's intent to issue traffic citations on the national system of interstate and defense highways for the year 2008 as required by the (state law)," Porter wrote in a June 4 ruling.
If successful, a class action lawsuit could force the refund of every ticket issued on I-24 since January 1.
ACLU of Rhode Island report shows the city of Providence failed to demonstrate any benefit from its red light camera program.
A report released yesterday by the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that the state's only red light camera operation has been a complete failure. In 2005, supportive lawmakers narrowly passed a law authorizing photo ticketing after agreeing to include a sunset provision that would invalidate the law in July 2008. With the deadline looming, supporters are scrambling to save the program. On Tuesday, the state Senate Judiciary Committee voted to make the photo ticketing authorization permanent. The full state House voted 35 to 23 to approve a similar measure on May 8. The ACLU's report is designed to give lawmakers a reason to re-think this course of action.
"Expensive. Ineffective. Inefficient. Intrusive of civil liberties. These are just a few ways to describe the Automated Traffic Violation Monitoring Systems, more commonly known as red light cameras," the ACLU report stated.
The report focused on five major problems with the program. The first is that the system is so expensive that the city of Providence ends up writing a large check each month to Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), the for-profit vendor in charge of ticketing. Combined with the lack of data showing the system has produced any safety benefits, the ACLU was left labeling the city's insistence on keeping the program "baffling."
Accidents in Providence increased from 2006 to 2007 at intersections where red light cameras were in use, but the city has held back the data which would allow analysis of accidents at these locations prior to camera installation. The report also charged that even when Providence provided numbers, they were not useful.
"Anyone attempting to analyze the city's data in any meaningful way is left scratching his or her head," the report stated. "It quickly becomes apparent that the numbers given cannot be trusted because they simply don't add up, making it impossible to come to any scientifically significant -- or even correlational -- conclusions."
The report showed that only 40 percent of intersection photographs taken actually resulted in citations being mailed. The city used a statistical trick -- counting only "controllable factors" -- to claim an 87 percent issuance rate. This ensured Providence exceeded the 70 percent minimum required by state standards. Finally, the report argued that photo ticketing represents a dilution of the due process rights of citizens because the owners of cars, not drivers, receive tickets weeks after a violation is issued, making it difficult to mount an effective challenge.
With these five main problems in mind, the ACLU urged the legislature to drop plans to renew the program.
"Such failures should not be rewarded, especially in light of the civil liberties incursions implicit in the implementation of a red light camera system," the report concluded. "The General Assembly should reject efforts to repeal the statutory sunset clause, and should instead let this failed experiment come to a graceful end."
The original Senate legislation to extend the life of the red light camera program included a provision specifically designed to force Providence to switch vendors from Dallas-based ACS to Providence-based Nestor Inc. The provision was dropped in committee.
A full copy of the report is available in a 1.3mb PDF file at the source link below.
Driving through Tennessee so slowly that traffic begins to back up is now a ticketable offense. The state's supreme court on Monday issued a unanimous ruling making it clear that dawdling on the road can be considered a crime.
The case began when Chattanooga Police Officer Joseph Shaw noticed a slow-moving Nissan Altima on Market Street at about 1am on May 11, 2005. Shaw estimated the Altima driver was driving at 25 MPH on the four-lane road, even though the speed limit was 35 and the rest of the traffic on the road was flowing smoothly at 50 MPH. This difference in speed caused a backup, according to Officer Shaw.
"When (approaching automobiles) would come up behind us they would have to brake fairly quickly and change lanes in order to pass," Shaw testified. "And there was moderate traffic even for that time of night on that road."
Shaw followed the Altima for about fifteen blocks before deciding to pull over the driver, Richard Adam Hannah. Hannah had no license and showed some signs of intoxication. A later search discovered a small amount of cocaine and marijuana in the car, resulting in the arrest of Hannah and his passengers. Shaw's basis for the stop was a law against impeding the flow of traffic.
"No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or compliance with law," Tennessee Code section 55-8-154 states.
A trial court decided this law did not apply to the situation at hand and threw out the evidence against Hannah and his passengers. The trial court, with the support of appellate courts, interpreted the word "impede" in the statute as coming to a stop on the road and blocking other drivers from continuing on their way. The supreme court did not buy this interpretation.
"Had the legislature intended for a violation to occur only when an automobile was completely stopped in the roadway or caused other automobiles to stop, we presume it would have said so," Chief Justice William M. Barker wrote. "Accordingly, we agree with the state that the trial court's interpretation that a driver must cause other automobiles to come to a stop and wait for an unreasonable amount of time is too restrictive and would essentially emasculate the import of the statute."
The high court found that drivers may travel slowly, but only if that slowness does not cause a backup for other motorists or violate a posted minimum speed. The court also added in a footnote that driving at the speed limit is "normal and reasonable" even when everybody else on the road is traveling much more quickly.
A full copy of the decision is available in a 95k PDF file at the source link below.
A New Jersey grand jury yesterday handed down indictments against two former Jersey City Municipal Court officials caught in an alleged ticket fixing scandal. Chief Judge Wanda Molina, 48, and Court Administrator Virginia Pagan, 53, had each been charged last year with dismissing a combined total of 223 parking tickets either they or their relatives and friends had received. The pair were forced to resign their positions in September.
"When court officials engage in ticket fixing, it shakes the faith of average citizens who pay up when they get a ticket," New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a statement. "Today's indictments send a message that these defendants are not above the law and there is indeed one system of justice to which all must answer."
Molina was charged with two counts of second-degree official misconduct for actions she took between September 2006 and August 2007. According to the indictment, Molina dismissed eight parking tickets for a female companion with whom she had a "close personal relationship." Molina dismissed three of these tickets by writing "emergency" on the notice as if the recipient had presented a valid excuse. Conflict of interest rules prohibit judges from ever hearing a case in which they might have a personal or financial stake in the outcome.
As Jersey City's court administrator, Pagan's job included entering the disposition of cases into the court's official database. Pagan is accused of taking advantage of this access to dismiss 215 tickets, worth about $5000, that had been issued to her and her daughter. The indictment charged Pagan with second-degree official misconduct, third-degree pattern of official misconduct, third-degree tampering with public records or information, and fourth-degree falsifying records.
Molina and Pagan each face a sentence of up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. A new mandatory minimum sentencing law means they will spend at least five years behind bars if convicted. Additional indictments are expected as nearly half of the city's judges were accused in October of similar conduct.
"Fortunately, a tip put an end to their alleged abuses," New Jersey Criminal Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni said. "We encourage anyone who suspects public corruption to report it to us."
White man sent photo ticket for offense committed by a black man in Louisiana while great grandmother in Florida receives bogus ticket from Georgia.
Recent incidents in Georgia and Louisiana call into question the common assertion of photo enforcement advocates that the camera never lies. Officials in charge of red light camera and speed camera programs claim it is "rare" for erroneous tickets to be issued because a human police officers diligently verifies each and every citation for accuracy before it is issued.
It appears that Lafayette, Louisiana made no such check when, as KSLA television reported, it mailed a black man's red light camera ticket to a white man. The city accused Alan Dukes, the owner of a 2005 Honda motorcycle, of speeding on June 4. Yet the photograph of the alleged violation clearly shows a black man riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Dukes maintains that he is innocent.
"You can see there's no close resemblance, whatsoever," Alicia Dukes told KSLA in comparing a photo of her husband to the ticket photo.
Lafayette's director of photo ticketing, Tony Tramel, insisted it would cost too much money to have police officers witness violations and ticket drivers in person.
"Do we make errors or mistakes? Occasionally it does happen," Tramel admitted. "Can we be absolutely perfect? I wish we could."
Lafayette's error is the inverse of a 2006 situation in Scottsdale, Arizona where a black man was sent a white man's speeding ticket. In Atlanta, Georgia it was the owner of a white car that was sent a ticket for an offense committed by a black car.
WPLG television reported on this case where great grandmother and Hollywood, Florida resident Evelyn Singer received a ticket for running a red light in Atlanta at 6:30am on June 24 at the intersection of Courtland and Baker streets. The document insisted that Singer pay $70.
Singer responded with a certified letter explaining that her white Acura looked nothing like the black Pontiac committing the offense alleged in the ticket photograph. Moreover, she has not been to Atlanta in thirty-five years. When Singer later called to confirm whether the ticket had been canceled or not, the courthouse either put her on hold or hung up while the Miami television station's cameras were rolling. After several frustrating attempts, Singer reached a a human and asked how often the cameras make mistakes.
"It doesn't really matter as far as what we're trying to accomplish," the unidentified Georgia courthouse official responded.
The court told WPLG that it was likely Singer's ticket would be canceled.
CameraFRAUD.com has learned that a Scottsdale-based law firm has filed suit in Maricopa Superior Court against Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc., and the Town of Paradise Valley, AZ.
The suit, filed by Pak and Moring Plc, claims Redflex committed wrongdoing by not getting federal approval for radar equipment used to cite motorists. If approved, class-action status could be granted to the suit to include "all persons who received tickets that were generated by a Redflex mobile radar unit operated in violation of relevant law."
Allegations in the brief also raise the possibility that Redflex may have intentionally concealed the fact that their equipment wasn't certified, and whether Redflex committed consumer or common-law fraud.
CameraFRAUD.com, while not a party to the lawsuit, has been publicly alledging fraud on the part of Redflex and ATS, and recently organized a sucessful demonstation in Scottsdale. A videographer who contributes to CameraFRAUD.com, as well as FreedomsPhoenix.com, was arrested by the Scottsdale Police department on 8/27/2008 while peacefully documenting the activities of two sign-wielding photo radar demonstators.
Scottsdale Police has arrested a reporter who was videographing anti-camera activists. Two individuals were exercising their first-amendment rights by waving signs on a sidewalk on Shea Blvd when, incredulously, the Scottsdale Police arrested the person holding the camera. One of the charges was even for a non-existent crime: "disrupting the operation of a photo radar van."
"A Scottsdale man arrested Wednesday night was accused of disrupting the operation of a photo radar van parked in the 6800 block of East Shea Boulevard, police said.
Shelton, 35, was holding protest signs and blocking the van's cameras, Officer Dave Pubins said.
Last Friday, a grass-roots group called CameraFraud.com gathered at Scottsdale and Thomas roads to protest the use of photo-enforcement cameras.
The Scottsdale Police is in such an outright tizzy that they even went as far as to issue a press release in a section of their website normally grazed with information pertaining to death investigations and armed robberies.
The arrested reporter is a contributor to local-news site FreedomsPhoenix.com, as well as his own Youtube channel, RP4409. He was released on his own recognizance on 8/28 around 5:30 PM.
UPDATE: A few of our readers pointed out an interesting question: If it's a crime to wave a sign on a city street near photo radar equipment, why didn't the Scottsdale Police take enforcement action on Friday, August 22nd during the Thomas Road protest, in which footage from local channel KTVK-TV clearly shows activists who may have purposefully been blocking the equipment?
Is it because they were afraid of possible public backlash and blowback for being heavy-handed? Is it because the Scottsdale Police is afraid of the media? Or, perhaps the City of Scottsdale and the Scottsdale Police are terrified of cameras catching them in the act when they do something wrong?
Crash. (so the redlight scamera did NOT prevent the crash)
Murfreesboro police Officer Dan Schobert saw the whole thing, even though he wasn't there. It's his full-time job to view images captured by the city's new red-light camera systems installed at seven intersections.
This video depicts a car slamming into two vehicles six seconds after the light changed. There's also a still photo with a clear view of the signal violation and of the car's license plate. Schobert will send the picture to the car's registered owner - along with a $50 citation for running the light.
Murfreesboro is one of about a dozen communities in Tennessee that use the photo enforcement system because they believe it will reduce the number of accidents caused by red-light runners. Gallatin does so, too, while Nashville, Brentwood, Clarksville and Hendersonville are looking into them.
But there are questions about the effectiveness of using a camera to do a job traditionally reserved for a police officer. Lawsuits have been filed, and a recent state appeals court ruling found that the cameras are constitutional.
"We have to look at what works for our community, and we know something that worked or didn't work in other communities may or may not work for us," said Kyle Evans, spokesman for the Murfreesboro Police Department. "Murfreesboro is unique, as is Knoxville. We want to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges."
Motorists who run red lights cause more than 100,000 crashes and about 1,000 deaths per year in the United States, according to data from the Federal Highway Administration. An agency study concluded that cameras do reduce right-angle accidents, which are more likely to be fatal. But they can cause more rear-end collisions.
System is still new
In Murfreesboro, Schobert examines dozens of signal violations each day, after vendor RedFlex Traffic Systems has whittled out images that aren't violations - as when an emergency vehicle runs a light.
Besides the photo sent in the mail, a car owner can view the video online if the violation resulted in an accident.
The city enabled the system in April and began issuing tickets in July, so officials there say it's too early to say how the program works.
Theresa Rogers, who lives in Murfreesboro, has rarely traveled through the intersections where the cameras are and has not received one of the red-light citations. But she worries that cameras take away from the value of a live, on-scene police officer.
"We need more traffic enforcement, not just for red lights, but also for things like people failing to yield," Rogers said. "From the $32,000 that we are paying the company for these cameras each month, we could be hiring police officers."
Gallatin has used the cameras since 2006. The city's police department saw a 25 percent decrease in vehicle crashes at intersections with the red-light camera systems. Additionally, citations at those intersections also are down by about 40 percent.
Gallatin Police Chief John Tisdale said the declines could be attributed to the cameras as well as effective law enforcement officers.
"What does that tell you, folks?" Tisdale asked of his officers at a criminal data meeting. "Behavior is changing. That's exactly what we're after."
Tickets challenged
A Hendersonville attorney filed suit against Gallatin after he received a ticket and said the system was unconstitutional. Sumner County court records show there has been no activity in the case since September 2007.
But it could be a moot point, given a recent Tennessee Court of Appeals ruling.
Ronald G. Brown had filed a suit against Knoxville, claiming that his due process rights were violated because the camera could not prove he was driving the car even though he is the registered owner. He felt he was automatically assumed to be guilty.
But the court ruled against Brown. In the decision, Judge D. Michael Swiney said the person cited - the car's registered owner - has the right to challenge the ticket in court to prove there was no violation or to show that another person was driving.
None of the tickets mailed out in Murfreesboro has been challenged.
Since July 5, about 8,025 photos have been taken of suspected red-light runners. But exceptions, such as emergency vehicles and cars turning on red, reduced the number of issued tickets to 2,691. Only 387 of those have been paid to date.
Murfreesboro officials will assess the cameras - located at seven intersections - as more time elapses, Evans said.
"We'll reserve the right to see how effective it is," Evans said. "We're taking it on a day-by-day basis. Hopefully we'll see a reduction in accidents at these intersections."
The Virginia Transportation Research Council studied all of the state red light camera programs and found an overall increase in injury accidents.
A brand new, exhaustive study of all seven Virginia red light camera programs shows an overall increase in injury accidents has occurred where the devices are installed. The study was performed by The Virginia Transportation Research Council at the request of the state transportation secretary. The report also notes a fatal flaw in the Virginia's camera law -- motorists can ignore any ticket received in the mail. Only tickets that are personally served matter (the same thing happened in Arizona).
"Further analysis indicated that the cameras are contributing to a definite increase in rear-end crashes, a possible decrease in angle crashes, a net decrease in injury crashes attributable to red light running, and an increase in total injury crashes. The cameras are correlated with an increase in total crashes of 8% to 17%. The cameras are correlated with an increase in rear-end crashes related to the presence of a red light; the increase ranges between 50% and 71%."
Despite a distinct sympathy in favor of camera enforcement, the researchers found a "definite" increase in rear-end accidents and only a "possible" decrease in angle accidents. Most importantly, the net effect was that more injuries happened after cameras are installed. Camera proponents explain this away by asserting angle accidents are more serious, but this claim has not been scientifically studied according to this report. The rear end collisions caused by the cameras still produce injuries -- the original promise of camera proponents was that they would reduce accidents and injuries, not rearrange them.
A town has become the first to abolish fixed-point speed cameras, officials said Thursday.
The town council of Swindon voted to ditch the cameras in a row over funding.
The council, which is Conservative-controlled, thought it was unfair that it had to pay 320,000 pounds a year to maintain the cameras while the Communist Labour government received the cash from fines.
Peter Greenhalgh, the Conservative councillor who proposed the move, told BBC radio that too much money was being spent on the cameras.
He said offical figures "show that, nationally, only six percent of accidents are caused by people breaking speed limits and yet almost 100 percent of the government's road safety money is being invested in speed cameras," he said.
"I can see that's wrong and I think the people of this country can see that's wrong."
Labour councillor Derique Montaut responded that while the cameras had not always been popular, they had saved lives.
The move does not mean that Swindon residents can now drive as fast as they like -- police will still use hand-held devices to catch speeding drivers.
State governments across Australia are poised to deploy automated cameras that mail tickets to vehicles considered by a machine to be noisy. The fully automated noise camera systems have been in development since 2005 but are now are active and issuing warning notices in the small New South Wales suburb of Mount Ousley, according to the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) Annual Report. The agency is looking for a regulatory means of making such ticketing solutions more common.
"The RTA is contributing to the development of the 'Planning Guideline for Residential and other Sensitive Building Developments alongside Major Roads,'" the RTA report explains. "This will include requirements to address noise for new residential development along nominated roads and rail corridors.... RTA continues to develop technology in the form of a suitable noise camera to use as an enforcement device."
The fully automated noise analysis system designed by the NSW firm Acoustic Research Laboratories uses a set of microphones and cameras that continuously record and analyze activity on a neighborhood street. A computer program processes the audio data to isolate trigger sounds from general background road noise. This allows the device find opportunities to mail a traffic citation to passing vehicles that exceed a predetermined noise threshold. Once configured, the machine will generate up to 10,000 tickets before the on-board hard drive is filled. A 10-second video and audio clip is stored for each incident for use in court proceedings.
South Australia and Victoria have begun similar programs with each state focusing on the noise of heavy commercial truck compression brakes, an issue designed to court local approval of the ticketing technology.
"In parallel with the development of the acoustic measurement methodology, Transport South Australia has developed camera technology that can be linked with the measurement software," Australia's National Transport Commission reported. "The combination of these systems offers the potential for excessive engine brake noise incidents to be identified and recorded, which may provide a useful tool to enforcement agencies."
The commission approved the regulation against engine compression brakes last November. The ticketing system can also be easily expanded to issue citations for loud subwoofers, noisy exhausts, or even an inopportune honk of the horn.
Now that speed cameras use is established in Europe and parts of the US, the concept of automated ticketing is beginning to expand far beyond moving violations. Already, automated ticketing machines are deployed in the US to hit vehicles that overstay in a parking spot by a minute or that have excessive tailpipe emissions. The newest addition to this growing list is camera that scans the tires of passing cars and mails tickets if the depth of the tire tread is deficient by a fraction of an inch. Although not currently deployed, the German company ProContour hopes to sell this system to state and local governments looking for a way out of tight budget situations with a positive, pro-safety message.
"Car tires are technically, the number one cause of car accidents in Germany," ProContour states on its website. "An average of four car accidents occur daily with personal injuries as the result of smooth or defective tires."
The company claims its combination of a laser and high-speed camera is capable of taking measurements at 430 million points on a tire each second. As the tire moves, the distance between the camera and the object changes allowing the system to create a three-dimensional profile of the tire. The software can then calculate not just the depth of the tread, but also whether the tire itself was designed for summer or winter use. The manufacturer has tested measurement accuracy at speeds of up to 75 MPH, but it believes the technology should work at even higher speeds.
European Union regulations authorize the imposition of a fine of up to 100 Euro (US $160) whenever the tread depth of one of a vehicle's four tires measures less than 1.6mm (0.06 inches). In Germany, drivers can also be ticketed for using tires that are "unsuitable." This means using a summer tire during the winter season carries a stiff fine -- ProContour hopes that fine will be automated.
Depending on its construction, a balding tire with low tread depth can actually have more grip in dry conditions and is not a safety hazard. That can change if it rains, however. The primary purpose of tire tread is to channel water away from the tire so that it maintains contact with the road. The combination of high water and low tread depth can lead to aquaplaning and loss of vehicle control.
ProContour's system can be used in both fixed and mobile locations and is available in an easy-to-hide configuration.
Two years after its last experiment with smog check spy cameras California's South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) is reintroducing and expanding its program designed to accuse motorists of polluting. The "High Emitter Repair or Scrap" cameras will photograph passing vehicles, scan license plate numbers and record driver identities in a database. If the machine thinks an SUV or old car or pickup truck is a "gross polluter," its owner will be mailed a notice.
For now, the program will not be sending tickets. Instead, a $4 million appropriation from gas tax funds allows the agency to offer the accused motorist $500 in vehicle repairs at a participating community college. The owner may also accept $1000 to $2000 in cash if he is willing replace the polluting vehicle with a low-emissions used or new car. The emissions cameras are expected to make millions of vehicle scans, but only a few hundred cars will end up being repaired. An earlier version of the program that ran between 1996 and 1997 scanned 19 million cars but only repaired 600.
Made by Environmental System Products, the spy cameras will be moved every few days among a hundred freeway onramp sites in four counties. AQMD refuses to disclose site locations. The AccuScan device works by projecting ultraviolet and infrared beams across the roadway. Emissions from the vehicle's tailpipe will absorb some of this light, allowing a roadside sensor to measure the remainder. From this, the system estimates hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide levels within a second.
Arizona state police on Wednesday arrested a man suspected of whacking a speed camera with a pickaxe. The incident took place in the city of Glendale just before midnight near the 59th Street overpass on the Loop 101 freeway. Police estimate the camera was hit at least six times in an attack quite similar to one that took place in the Communist Czech Republic last month. Arizona Department of Public Safety officials wasted no time in exploiting the incident to discourage anti-camera activism.
"From criminal damage charges to charges related to interfering with judicial proceedings that can carry lengthy jail terms and hefty fines, the ramifications a person could face for tampering with a photo enforcement site are extremely serious," DPS Director Roger Vanderpool said in a statement. "DPS Officers will continue to be vigilant at all hours of the day and night and stand ready to respond quickly to reports or first hand observances of persons tampering with or vandalizing photo enforcement sites in any manner."
Camerafraud.com, the primary group opposing cameras in the state, distanced itself from the attack. Camerafraud believes it can defeat photo enforcement at the ballot box, and that such incidents play into the hands of a publicity machine funded by those who profit from photo ticketing.
"It's unfortunate that the person chose not to follow the example of Rosa Parks or Gandhi, both of whom protested against oppressive government by thoughtfully and peacefully breaking the laws they felt to be unjust," the group said in a statement. "The person arrested was not member of Camerafraud.com's public Meetup group."
The 26-year-old accused of the crime faces felony criminal damage charges carrying up to three years in prison and a $150,000 fine. DPS stated its intention to add a charge for "interference with a traffic control device," but this charge is likely to be dropped. The federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices recognizes only signs, traffic signals and markings as falling under the category of traffic control devices. That means a "Photo Enforced" sign, but not the camera itself, would be considered a traffic control device. The same distinction is found in Arizona Revised Statutes 28-601 where "photo enforcement system" is explicitly defined apart from "official traffic control device."
Australian ticket camera provider Redflex replaced the damaged speed camera housing so that ticketing could resume by 11am Thursday.
Vanderpool had threatened to use the same traffic control device charge against the unknown individuals who placed non-destructive Post-It Notes on the lenses of speed cameras as a political statement.
Just one week after receiving a pledge of $306 billion in support from US taxpayers, Citigroup announced the intended $10 billion acquisition of a debt-laden Spanish toll road group. Citi Infrastructure Partners will hand over $3.6 billion in cash and assume $6.3 billion in debt from Sacyr Vallehermoso, the parent company of the Intinere Infraestructuras toll road group. Itinere operates 32 toll roads in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Portugal and Spain and Ireland. Another twelve concessions are under construction. Sacyr today issued a statement to Spanish investors noting that the company succeeded in offloading 37 percent of its total debt to the US firm.
"With this transaction, the group reaps the value that Itinere accumulated for its mature concession assets and strengthens its financial situation by considerably reducing its indebtedness," the statement explained.
On November 23, the US Treasury announced that it had invested $20 billion in US taxpayer funds in Citigroup in addition to "protection against the possibility of unusually large losses" on $306 billion in bad debt the company had acquired primarily in commercial and residential real estate markets. Armed with the new taxpayer capital, Citigroup believes its purchase of the toll roads will hold long-term value. In the immediate term, Citigroup will sell off Itinere's stakes in five Spanish and Chilean toll roads to Spanish tolling giant Abertis, allowing that company to assume full ownership of its tolling assets. The deal is valued at $786 million.
Other analysts, including Fitch Ratings, view tolling as a risky investment as toll road volumes have plummeted in response to the recent spikes in gasoline prices and the global economic slowdown. In August, Fitch issued a warning that its outlook on tolling had changed to "negative", reflecting a dim view of the creditworthiness of the long-term transactions. In October, Citigroup and Abertis gave up on their joint bid to collect tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The consortium spent millions bankrolling a slick public relations campaign that ultimately failed to sway public opinion on the wisdom of the 75-year proposal.
Vigilantes have thwarted speed traps across three continents over the past two weeks. In south Essex, UK a speed camera located next to Canvey Fire Station was set alight with a gasoline-soaked tire. The £40,000 (US $60,000) device on Long Road in Canvey was destroyed, despite its proximity to firefighters who eventually managed to put out the blaze. Just one week before another camera was torched on the A127 in Southend bringing the total number of south Essex cameras destroyed in the past year-and-a-half to eight, according to the Echo newspaper.
In Queensland, Australia, members of the public grew outraged over a plan to install a new laser-based speed camera technology designed to be hidden behind bushes. During testing of the device on the Maroondah Highway in Croydon on November 5, vigilantes covered the camera in spray paint. On November 15, a three citizens tied a chain to the replacement camera and tore it from the ground with their white Subaru station wagon, according to the Herald Sun newspaper. Police have run out of replacements.
In Scott Township, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, vigilantes grabbed speed trap equipment from the side of the road at around 3:45pm. Officer Joseph Gillott was using an Enradd speed measuring system on Route 347 that day. After finishing writing a ticket to a motorist, Gillott turned around to find that one of his Enradd sensors was gone. Local jurisdictions in Pennsylvania are banned by state law from using radar because lawmakers believe they would only use the devices to generate revenue from passing motorists. To get around the law, these localities use non-radar systems such as Enradd. The device uses infrared sensors placed on both sides of a road to calculate speed from the amount of time a vehicle takes to pass between two points.
The embarrassed police department now has until Monday to explain to the manufacturer, North Central Safety Traffic, that it has no idea where the rest of the $5000 system might be. The company had loaned the device in the hopes of convincing the department to purchase its product.
Source: Speed-?enforcement device swiped (Scranton Times (PA), 11/28/2008)
A brand new red light camera on California's historic Route 66 is already generating thousands in revenue for San Bernardino, but the biggest lawbreaker in these cases may turn out to be the city itself. Since September 25, a photo ticketing device has watched over the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and 9th Street, trapping motorists caught by a yellow light that is so short it violates state law.
Truck driver Raymond Chacon discovered this last month while taking a training course to help him upgrade his commercial driver's license. Under the supervision of an instructor, he came to the intersection behind the wheel of a big-rig tractor trailer. He entered just a split-second after the light had turned red. After successfully completing the course and passing the Department of Motor Vehicles Class A license test "with flying colors," Chacon received a $400 red light camera ticket in the mail. Chacon immediately began investigating what might have happened at that location. He turned to the HighwayRobbery.net website, which encouraged him to check whether the city used yellow signal timing that conformed with state guidelines.
Video from the intersection in question confirms that drivers are given only 3.0 seconds of yellow, even though the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices insists that 35 MPH intersections have a yellow of no less than 3.6 seconds. While this 0.6 second shortage appears insignificant, it can represent the difference between a ticket and no ticket for thousands of motorists. This is even more true for truck drivers like Chacon.
Most drivers faced with a quick-changing yellow can simply slam on their brakes to avoid the citation. For Chacon's 53-foot-long rig, however, the compressed-air braking system requires an extra 0.5 seconds to activate. Beyond the usual risk of causing a rear end collision in this situation, slamming the brakes with an unladen trailer risks jack-knifing the truck. With a properly timed signal, Chacon would have had enough time to clear the intersection.
San Bernardino may be aware of the importance of this signal timing. It is one of only a handful of cities across the country that deliberately conceals signal timing information -- including the "time into red" or "late time" -- on its citations. In 2002, a Baltimore, Maryland judge had used this information to find tickets issued at locations where the signal timing was illegally short. As a result of the judge's investigation, Baltimore was forced to refund thousands in citation revenue (Read court memo). Chacon insists that San Bernardino similarly provide refunds from those caught by the illegal signal timing on Mount Vernon Avenue.
"It is a cash cow for a financially strapped San Bernardino city," Chacon told TheNewspaper. "The fact that they knew the yellows were too short shows that public safety is not a sole concern for the red light cameras."
Earlier this month, the National Motorists Association Foundation announced that it had begun a nationwide search to track down intersections with short yellow times and force cities to comply with proper engineering practices.
A red light camera in Peoria, Arizona issued an automated citation to what appeared to be a speed camera behind the wheel of an SUV. On the afternoon of September 14, a man wearing a speed camera costume allegedly entered the intersection of 83rd Avenue and Union Hills Drive a split-second after the light turned red.
Redflex, an Australian company that runs photo enforcement programs for nine jurisdictions in Arizona, sent the ticket electronically to the Peoria Police Department for approval. Because Arizona red light camera tickets carry license points, state law requires that the driver be positively identified before the citation is issued (view citation image). The Tuscon Police Department, for example, goes into detail on its website explaining the careful process used to ensure all citations are valid.
"Does a Police Officer review my complaint before it is mailed?" the department's website asks. "Yes. Every violation is reviewed by a Tucson Police Officer prior to a ticket being issued. The officer confirms the elements of the violation ensuring that there are grounds to believe a violation was committed, confirms the plate is readable and the driver is identifiable. The officer compares the photograph of the driver to the driver's license photo when possible. If there are reasonable grounds to believe an offense was committed and the person driving the vehicle is the one named, the officer places their name and badge number on the ticket and authorizes it to be issued. We believe that review of the violation by a trained police officer is critical in ensuring integrity in the process."
Peoria Police Department Officer Daniel Griffiths, whose name and signature is affixed to the citation, could not have conducted such a review without noticing that the face of the driver of the Nissan SUV, whose face was fully encased by painted cardboard, could not be identified.
Peoria was one of the first cities to revolt against photo enforcement. In 1991, residents voted 2-1 in favor of a resolution banning speed cameras. Despite this, the city council voted to impose red light cameras in October 2007.
Dallas, Texas based Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) earlier this month became the second major photo enforcement camera company to be busted for operating without a license. Proceedings are scheduled to continue today in a Dallas County courtroom as 192nd Civil District Court Judge Craig Smith decides the appropriate remedy for the situation. On November 19, Smith issued an order declaring the company in violation of a state law requiring commercial firms that provide evidence for use in court to have a license that proves their employees have passed strict criminal background checks and other requirements. Dallas attorney Lloyd Ward sued ACS after the company mailed a ticket to his home.
"Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on the issue of failure to obtain appropriate license and bond under the Texas Occupation Code Section 1702.101 et seq. is hereby granted," Judge Smith wrote.
"Unless the person holds a license as an investigations company, a person may not... offer to perform the services of an investigations company," Texas Code Section 1702 states. "A person acts as an investigations company for the purposes of this chapter if the person engages in the business of obtaining or furnishing... information related to... crime or wrongs done; or... engages in the business of securing... evidence for use before a court, board, officer, or investigating committee... furnishing information includes information obtained or furnished through the review and analysis of, and the investigation into the content of, computer-based data not available to the public."
ACS is not the only company on the hot seat in Texas for operating without a license. Ward on November 24 filed a separate federal class action complaint against Redflex for willful negligence in providing unlicensed investigative services for the cities of Duncanville and Plano. To ensure all the major photo enforcement vendors are covered, Ward filed another case against Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions (ATS) for its operations in Amarillo. Neither ACS, ATS nor Redflex hold the required Class A private investigation company license, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records.
The maximum criminal penalty for operating such a service without a license is a year in jail and a $4000 fine. The same penalty applies to any individuals found guilty of hiring an unlicensed company. Ward, instead, is seeking the return of illegally collected fines. In the Redflex case, for example, that amounts to $3 million. Ultimate success would mean the full refund of every photo citation issued in Texas.
Louisiana: State Board Rules Against Redflex Camera Company - The board may at its discretion impose the penalty of up to a year in jail and a $5000 fine on each employee found to be operating without a license. The state defines a private investigator as, "any person who... accepts employment to furnish information... with reference to... crimes or wrongs committed." (La. R.S. 37:3500-3525)
Add Rocky Mount to the growing list of North Carolina cities that have dumped red light cameras after the state's highest court insisted that profit from the devices must be given to the public schools. The city last week decided to allow its contract with Traffipax, a German ticket camera operator, to expire without renewal.
Like most North Carolina cities, Rocky Mount was eager to install cameras in September 2002, adding a total of five intersections to the program to ensure a steady stream of revenue. By 2005, The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running, the red light camera industry trade group run by the public relations firm Blakey and Agnew, created data designed to show incredible accident reductions at intersections within the state that used red light cameras. The programs were all declared a success.
"North Carolina ranks third in the nation for the number of communities using this technology," the industry group boasted in a press release.
This excitement ended in 2007 when the state supreme court upheld a ruling that found Article IX, Section 7 of the North Carolina Constitution applied to red light camera tickets. The provision states that "the clear proceeds of all penalties... shall be... used exclusively for maintaining free public schools" (read final opinion). This meant that local governments had to turn over photo ticketing revenue to the schools and not the general municipal operating budget. Any city wishing to continue its photo ticketing program would have to pay for it.
In addition to Rocky Mount, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greenville, Greensboro, High Point and Raleigh shut down their red light camera programs after the court ruling.
Cities in California could face a class action lawsuit forcing the refund of thousands of illegally issued red light camera fines following the publication earlier this month of an appellate decision in favor of a local motorist. The California Superior Court's Appellate Division canceled a photo ticket issued to Orange County resident Thomas Fischetti because the city of Santa Ana failed to provide a thirty-day warning period before issuing tickets at each intersection equipped with a red light camera. Santa Ana, with the support of a trial judge, claimed that it was good enough to have a thirty-day warning period at a single intersection in the city.
"The trial court's determination that the city complied with Section 21455.5(b) is inconsistent with the structure and purpose of the statute as a whole," Appellate Division Judge Stephen L. Perk decided. "From the perspective of the motorists for whom the statutory requirements were intended to provide protection, it would not make sense for the geographic scope of the thirty-day warning period to be determined arbitrarily by the size of the municipality operating the automated enforcement system."
This was not the first time that the courts had decided this issue in Fischetti's favor. In 2005, the California Supreme Court upheld a previous appellate division decision finding Fischetti not guilty because the city of Costa Mesa, like Santa Ana, failed to provide a thirty-day warning period at each intersection with a red light camera (read opinion). Although final, that decision could not be used as a precedent in California because Fischetti, who represented himself in court, did not realize that courts can withhold publication of decisions, especially when no request for publication was made. Three years later, he would not repeat that mistake.
On February 6, 2008, a red light camera claimed that Fischetti's 1993 Lexus entered the intersection of Pullman and Dyer in Santa Ana a split-second after the light had turned red. Fischetti called and spoke with Laura Rossini, Deputy City Attorney of Santa Ana, to explain that the city was in violation of the 2005 Fischetti decision. He was shocked at the city's attitude toward the law.
"She paid little homage to the appellate decision requiring a grace period in my Costa Mesa case," Fischetti told TheNewspaper. "It was like, despite the logical construction of the opinion, the previous decision was meaningless. At that point I felt I needed to finish what I intended to do in Costa Mesa."
Even Fischetti with his two victories was not the only individual to win on this question. Both the city of Santa Ana and Court Commissioner Glenn Mondo, who found Fischetti guilty in 2008, had been overturned on this very point. On August 28, 2008, the appellate division entered an identical ruling declaring another motorist's $366 fine in Santa Ana invalid because of the lack of a warning period. The decision was not published.
The significance of publication is clear from the 2005 pleas of the California League of Cities to overturn the Costa Mesa decision. The League told the state supreme court that the decision, if allowed to stand, meant trouble for the sixty-six California cities that used red light cameras at the time. None of them provided the warning period prescribed by the law.
"The respondent court's legal interpretation of the statute creates a question of first impression and implicates a factual situation likely to be the subject of persistent litigation in the future by all cities with automated enforcement systems," Santa Ana's Assistant City Attorney Paula Coleman wrote on behalf of the League of California Cities in March 2005. "The impact on cities and the courts with respect to ticket appeals and potential refunds could be enormous should respondent court's analysis be allowed to stand and other courts follow suit."
The California Supreme Court upheld the 2005 Fischetti decision, the wording of which is substantially identical to the latest ruling which is available in a 1mb PDF file at the source link below.
LAS VEGAS — With gas tax revenue declining and fuel efficiency the holy grail of car manufacturers, officials across the country are testing systems that could move Americans from paying a per-gallon tax at the pump to some form of fee based on road usage.
The challenges with such a shift are immense. Economists are not sure the idea will be practical, and privacy advocates oppose the notion of governments monitoring motorists’ driving habits. But millions of dollars are being spent on experiments with ways to collect such fees, and the idea seems to be gaining support in some quarters.
“We’re anticipating that we may get to the day when cars on the road don’t ever even go to a fueling station,” said Representative Peter A. DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat and chairman of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, which held hearings on the matter last summer. “If we’re going to continue to have a highway network and fix the 150,000 bridges we have that are in disrepair, we’re going to need new sources of revenue.”
Gas tax revenue has been flat or declining across the nation, partly because people are driving less and partly because their cars require less fuel. The Department of Transportation took in about $71 million less in gas taxes in the 2008 fiscal year than in 2007, and Americans drove 12.9 billion fewer miles in November 2008 than November 2007, the most recent figures available.
Those declines have depleted the Federal Highway Trust Fund, authorized by Congress in 2005 to pay for road construction and maintenance through the end of this year. The federal tax rate of 18.4 cents per gallon of gas has not changed since 1993; 24 states and the District of Columbia have not changed their per-gallon tax rates since 1998.
The matter bubbled up at the White House recently after President Obama’s transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, said the administration was considering some form of a “vehicles miles traveled” tax to replace the federal fuel tax. Mr. Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, corrected Mr. LaHood, telling reporters at his daily briefing the next day that supporting such a tax “is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration.”
Still, studies of variations of a mileage tax are being conducted. In the largest experiment of its type, the $16.5 million federal Road User Study, more than 1,200 volunteers in six cities are driving cars equipped with tracking devices to record where motorists have been. The drivers pay the traditional gas tax when they fill up, but they also receive simulated bills each month based on mileage, showing how such a system may work.
“We’re looking at how you would bill people, at invasion of privacy issues, and, human nature being what it is, people will always be looking at ways to beat the system,” said Jon Kuhl, principal investigator for the Road User Study, which is using volunteers in Austin, Tex.; Baltimore; Boise, Idaho; Raleigh and Durham, N.C.; San Diego; and the Quad Cities region of Iowa.
In a $2.7 million field test that ended in 2007, Oregon officials equipped the cars of 299 volunteers with transponders that relayed mileage data to special gas pumps. The pump charged the drivers 1.2 cents per mile in lieu of the 24-cent per gallon state gas tax. Gov. Theodore R. Kulongoski, a Democrat, has asked the Legislature to approve $10 million to refine the technology and conduct more field tests.
Others are also tinkering with the idea. The North Carolina Legislature is considering adding a fee of one-quarter of a cent per mile to the state’s current tax of 30.2 cents per gallon. The mileage fee would be paid with the annual vehicle registration fee.
In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, is considering a similar fee that would replace the gas tax. The Nevada Transportation Department is spending $200,000 on a study before deciding whether to ask the Legislature to authorize a trial in 2011 in which some motorists would be charged a mileage tax instead of the gas tax.
Nevada plans to study the feasibility of charging motorists more for driving on the interstate during rush hour than on a surface street at midnight as a way to encourage alternative routes and carpooling. Mr. Kuhl of the Road User Study and other supporters of a mileage tax contend that motorists in many regions, including the New York metropolitan area, may buy their gas in one state but do much of their driving in another.
“We’re seeing more fuel-efficient cars or even cars that run on electricity,” said Susan Martinovich, director of the Nevada Department of Transportation. “Those people are not paying as much, and yet they’re still on the road and still causing congestion and impacting pavement. How do I get at those people?”
Privacy advocates and economists, though, wonder about the complexity — and the public’s reaction to tracking where and when people drive.
“You’d have to have a record where the car is at all times, and that certainly would frighten America,” said Mike Moffatt, an economist at the Ivy School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. “And it also seems like a much more expensive way to collect taxes.”
Despite the problems, some move to replace or supplement the gas tax seems inevitable. Mr. Kuhl envisions retrofitting vehicles with a transponder to measure miles traveled, but Jim Whitty, the Oregon transportation official who oversaw the 2007 pilot program, said it was more practical to require automakers to install them in new cars and start the switch with those owners.
Mr. Kuhl said: “Moving to a system like this is going to be an enormously complicated process. It’s going to require huge amounts of planning.”
Chicago could rake in “at least $200 million” a year — and wipe out the entire projected deficit for 2009 — by using its vast network of redlight and surveillance cameras to hunt down uninsured motorists, aldermen were told today.
The system pitched to the City Council’s Transportation Committee by Michigan-based InsureNet would work only if insurance companies were somehow compelled to report the names and license plates of insured motorists. That’s already happening daily in 13 states, but not here.
The data would be entered into the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS), the information-sharing network that links federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
When a camera spots an uninsured vehicle driving on Chicago streets, a citation would automatically be generated and sent to the registered owner.
Illinois’ mandatory insurance law carries a $500 fine. If Chicago levied a $300 fine and used its home-rule power to keep the money, the annual take would top $100 million. A $500 city fine would generate $357 million.
“Certainly, it will be well in excess of $100 million. We think at least $200 million. And the upward projections are far higher,” said InsureNet president Dr. Jonathan Miller, whose company would charge the city a 30 percent collection fee.
An estimated 24 percent of all vehicles on the nation’s roadways are not insured, adding $100a year to the annual insurance rate paid by responsible motorists.
The Transportation Committee took no action on a proposal by Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) to use red-light cameras at 132 Chicago intersections to track down uninsured motorists.
But, aldermen clearly had dollar signs in their eyes after hearing InsureNet’s pitch to enlist the city’s entire network of surveillance cameras — and install new ones at high-traffic locations — in the hunt for the uninsured.
“You could put these cameras on the Dan Ryan. … You could have the same camera at the entrance to O’Hare Field’s parking lot where you have 10,000 cars parked. In theory, 20-some percent of those wouldn’t be insured and they’d all be in violation of a city ordinance,” Burke said.
“Maybe that’s why the staggering amount of revenue you’ve suggested could be potentially achieved.”
Transportation Committee Chairman Tom Allen (38th) agreed that InsureNet’s numbers were “eye-opening.” But, they’re based on a $500 fine and, “That’s a pretty big hit for people to pay,” Allen said.
He added, “I like the idea. We’d all like people to have insurance. But, there is a certain group that, outside of putting people in prison, may never get insurance. It’s purely money.”
Police State Traffic Scameras - Cops and courts can never force anyone to buy insurance from a private corporation. Insurance execs pay themselves $200,000 PER WEEK PER PERSON salaries, not counting Warren Buffet (GEICO Govt Employees Insurance Corp CIA) who paid himself $30-Billion tax free in just one year. Read your state's statute on "financial responsibility" and you'll see dozens of "exceptions" to the "requirement" for insurance.
LONDON - A sophisticated in-car computer could soon make it impossible for motorists to speed.
The system detects the speed limit and automatically slows the car if it is being driven too quickly.
It pinpoints a vehicle's exact location via satellite and accesses a database of every road's speed limit to determine how fast the vehicle should be travelling.
The Intelligent Speed Adaption system will be unveiled today as part of the largest-ever pilot of its kind.
It is seen as a blueprint for a nationwide scheme which could add around £500 to the cost of a car.
The new technology could render speed cameras obsolete - or at least substantially cut the amount of revenue they raise
But critics last night claimed that it was further evidence of state interference.
They say it undermines motorists' freedom and claim it could hinder, rather than aid, road safety.
The trial is being carried out by Transport for London (TfL) which runs buses, trains, the Underground and major roads in the capital.
TfL - which reports to London Mayor Boris Johnson - says its specially-equipped fleet including cars, a bus and a black cab, will take to the roads this summer.
During a six-month trial they will evaluate the technology's impact on road safety and congestion.
TfL believes it could cut accidents by around 10 per cent.
Currently the computer is programmed with the speed limits on every road within the M25.
The Government plans to order a nationwide map. The system offers the driver two modes - voluntary and advisory - as well as an override button.
In advisory mode the screen displays the speed limit and a face that smiles if the driver sticks to the limit and frowns if they go too fast.
It is the voluntary mode, however, that safety campaigners hope will one day become mandatory.
When vehicles reach the speed limit the accelerator is prevented from speeding up the car, no matter how far it is depressed.
The system does not affect the brakes. If an ISA-equipped car is driven from a 40mph to a 30mph or 20mph zone it is automatically and gradually slowed down.
'This innovative technology could help any driver avoid the unnecessary penalties of creeping over the speed limit and at the same time will save lives,' said Chris Lines, head of TfL's road safety unit.
However, Andrew Howard, the AA's head of road safety, said: 'Drivers are divided in their views of ISA; some hate it, some want it. Many have questions that will be answered only by trials like those being carried out by TfL.
Paul Biggs, of the Association of British Drivers, believes the system 'will stop drivers thinking'.
One local authority has already said it wants to place an order for 300 ISA units - which costs £400,000 to develop - for its own fleet.
They were made by the British division of Technolution, a Dutch firm, with funding from TfL.
TfL will reveal its findings in a report next year.
Cobra Electronics has released a new radar detector with a regularly updated database of red light and speed cameras. The device uses GPS to alert drivers when they are approaching a known location of a red light camera. The color of the warning light changes as the driver gets closer and an arrow shows the driver where the camera is located. The current device offered by Cobra goes for $389. However, they plan on offering another model for $99 in June that will have fewer features but cost $1 less than a red light ticket. The current device is called "Aura"
Chicago currently has 141 intersections monitored by red light cameras. Since this program started in November of 2003, the city has generated approximately $122 million in revenues. In 2008, total revenue amounted to $44.8.
City officials continue to claim that the aim is to make roads safer and not to raise revenue. You be the judge.
The boss of a firm making bike-catching average-speed cameras has been banned from driving after admitting doing over 100mph.
Tom Riall, a chief executive of Serco, the firm behind Gatso speed cameras, was clocked by police at 102.92mph in a Volvo estate on the A14 in Newmarket, Suffolk, on January 1.
The 49-year-old was banned for six months and given six points by Sudbury magistrates on Wednesday.
The court heard he had a previous speeding offence.
Serco is the biggest speed camera firm in the UK with more than 4,000 installations. Tens of thousands of motorcyclists have been caught by its rear-facing Gatsos.
A new version which measures average speed over distances is due to be approved within 18 months and “earmarked” for sites in Kent and Scotland, according to the firm.
Riall, from Ufton Nervet near Reading, is responsible for installing and maintaining the cameras.
The married father of three told the court a ban might effect his “long term aspirations” to keep his children in their private schools.
He was fined £300 and order to pay £46 prosecution costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Fear of litigation is causing some California cities to think twice about red light camera contracts containing so-called "cost neutrality" provisions. On Tuesday, the Turlock City Council decided to drop the idea of red light cameras for good.
"We will not be bringing them back to you," Turlock Police Chief Gary R. Hampton said. "Litigation on the whole red light camera issue continues and myself and the city attorney just do not see it being advantageous to the the city of Turlock to engage in this effort that could result in us having to expend our valuable city resources defending the city's use of red light cameras at this time."
At issue is a special provision created by the Australian red light camera operator Redflex Traffic Systems to make photo ticketing attractive to municipal leaders. The company agrees to do all the work and take all the financial risk for the undertaking in return for a substantial share of the profit generated.
"A cost neutrality clause provision in the contract assures that the city of Turlock will never be required to pay Redflex more than actual net revenue received from the program," Hampton explained in a memo to the council. "In any given month, if the program cost exceeds collected revenues, the balance will be carried over to the next month in which the cost can be met. That carry-over can continue for the term of the contract... Payment will only be made by the city of Turlock up to the amount of revenue received by the city through the collection of red light citations, up to the total due."
In other words, for each intersection approach, Redflex was to be compensated at 100 percent of the revenue collected from each ticket, with the amount capped at $6000 per intersection approach each month. This scheme ran afoul of state law banning per-ticket compensation, according to a November appellate ruling by a California Superior Court judge. The court found that a similar cost neutrality deal struck between the city of Fullerton and Nestor Traffic Systems (NTS) was illegal and all tickets issued by the system were declared void (view opinion).
Vice Mayor Ted Howze during the April 28 city council meeting asked to the city delay the proposed contract after a concerned citizen warned that a lawsuit over the illegal contract arrangement could result in a multi-million dollar refund, as happened in Minnesota.
"We did receive last minute communications from an individual who has expressed a concern, although after reading this communication I'm still very confident that we've addressed all the issues," Hampton said on the April 28, before having fully explored the issue.
The California Supreme Court currently is considering the question of whether contracts for red light camera services paid on a per-ticket basis are inherently void. Argument on the red light camera question is currently on hold pending resolution of a related case, County of Santa Clara v. Atlantic Richfield. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton warned in a February 9 memo that a supreme court ruling against the camera program could cost cities around the state millions in revenue.
"Given the fact that the city had a contingent fee contract with ACS for approximately three and one-half years, a state supreme court ruling in this matter could indirectly impact the city of Los Angeles," Bratton wrote. "A judgment in favor of the plaintiffs could set a legal precedent that may invite action against the city (i.e., a petition to overturn convictions and/or refund fines to those issued citations under the contingency fee based contract)."
Bratton insisted that the supreme court would rule in the cities' favor.
MYTH: "The city of Knoxville stands to receive a higher percentage of future revenues from fines collected by red-light traffic enforcement cameras, according to the terms of a contract approved this week with Norcross, Ga.-based Lasercraft."
-Knoxville News Sentinel, City's red-light revenues to rise, January 29, 2009
Redflex Sniper is a COP! Sniper is a deputy say Knox deputies
first reported by Pirate News
Redflex contract cancelled 1 week later
Cliff Clark Trial Updates
Jury trial dates: 10 August 2009, 26 October 2009, and 6 November 2009. Court watchers welcome.
TRIAL UPDATE July 1, 2009 - Pirate News TV banned by Judge Mary Beth Liebowitz who isues verbal and written order/opinion to censor Pirate News TV broadcast. WBIR TV was allowed to remain and videotaped entire hearing, then censored it down to a 30-second soundbyte. WBIR did broadcast prosecutors admitting KPD, KCSO and Redlex destroyed or lost all ballistics evidence in this case (since Knox County deputy sheriffs confess to shooting the redlight cameras). KCSO deputy Nick Carroll had a total meltdown on the witness stand during cross exam by attorney Ron Newcomb, was unable to think of lies fast enough to speak, and began giggling uncontrollably (censored by WBIR). WBIR news director Bill Shorey refused to sell a copy of the unedited hearing to Pirate News TV as a media pool, and censored the fact that Pirate News TV was censored.
Hearing Transcript May 1, 2009 - Pirate News TV was banned by Judge Mary Beth Liebowitz to censor TV broadcast of prosecutors admitting KPD, KCSO and Redlex destroyed or lost all ballistics evidence in this case (since Knox County deputy sheriffs confess to shooting the redlight cameras). No other TV station was in the courtroom. Prosecutors used perjured testimony for another bogus indictement by grand jury of assault against deputy Robbie Lawson who was not even inside the home at the time of the alleged assault. Regarding the media request to broadcast by Pirate News TV, Judge Liebowitz never decided orally yes or no, nor signed the media request form. prosecutor Scarlett alleges John Lee was "hired" by Cliff Clark, but that was only for events outside the scope of the court hearing, to record freelance photographic evidence of the non-existant evidence, not to be broadcast on Pirate News TV (but Judge Liebowitz banned that, and no payment was made). All TV news stations sell video copies of broadcasts, and most TV news cameramen do freelance work as a 2nd job.
Prosecutor Zane Scarlet: "The enclosure [with alleged bullet holes in it] was never taken into confiscation by the police department. It has never been in State control or State property. It was taken down by Precision Electronics and replaced by an enclosure that didn't have holes in it, but it has never been in State's property. Therefore I cannot produce it because it has never been in our control."
Defense attorney Ron Newcomb: "Your Honor, one of the main issues in this case, is not only do we have the cover, but we don't have it in its location, because one of the issues is..."
Judge Mary Beth Liebowitz: "Where the shots came from, obviously."
Court TV at Cliff Clark hearing but Pirate News TV banned!
The Clifford Clark Redflex sniper case was scheduled for a discovery hearing in Judge Baumgartner's court yesterday, right in front of Court TV cameras. The hearing was transferred to Judge Leibowitz' court, and TV cameras were banned, specifically Pirate News TV.
A discovery meeting was scheduled for the defense immediately after. KPD and prosecutors destroyed all evidence that the camera was shot, by hiding/destroying/reusing the camera housing with alleged bullet holes, and hiding/destroying the 3 alleged bullets.
The alleged camera with bullet holes was actually removed by contractors on the same day of the hearing, replaced by Lasercraft cameras (that export 90% of ticket taxes to England and Communist China).
The audio portion of KPD's in-car video was destroyed, which would have proven perjury of the cop's initial testimony that Mr Clark "confessed" (which the cop recanted under oath in court).
The trial for March 26 was rescheduled, since the Redflex witness "was out of the country" that month (Redflex is located in AUSTRALIA not Arizona).
Judge Leibowitz and Baumgartner both agreed that the prosecution will be dismissed with prejudice if the search and/or traffic stop was invalid, to be decided in written order before May 1st.
Court TV was not allowed to see this world-famous case in Baumgartner's court, perhaps because Knox County deputies claim to be the actual sniper(s), and may be subpoenaed to testify to that fact.
Court TV was in town for the murder trial of black widow Raynella Dosset Leath, indicted for murder of two husbands including former Knox County D.A. Ed Dossett, who officially died in a "cattle stampede", according to Knox County medical examiner Randay Pedigo, who was gunned down by TBI for homosexual rape and hiding KPD guns used to kill cops. She previously pled guilty to shooting 5 times at the husband of her dead 1st husband Ed Dossett's mistress and love child. A hung jury was not allowed to hear about her guilty plea to assault by firearm, nor about the first murder indictment. That was the same courtroom Cliff Clark was in during that same trial.
PIRATE NEWS VIDEO FEBRUARY 2009 -- Pirate News TV was banned from CTV one day before that Pirate News producer John Lee testified to grand jury seeking arrest of KPD cops and city court judge John Rossen in 55-page Affidavit of Probable Cause for Criminal Complaint. Knoxville city court judge ignores motion to dismiss by attorney for Cliff Clark for failure to prosecute when city attorney and cop fail to appear for court. The next week, Knox County prosecutor and judge admitted that all charges must be dismissed against Cliff Clark at pretrial hearing in Criminal Court, due to lack of probable cause to search vehicle, and must return all firearms stolen by deputies from a locked safe in his attic. Knox county deputy sheriffs have confessed to shooting Redflex redlight cameras in Knoxville.
Video: Cliff Clark pretrial discovery hearing for alleged vandalism of Redflex camera, 26 Feb 2009. Knox County ADA refuses to produce discovery items such as the allegedly damaged Redflex redlight camera, the alleged bullets, or Redflex maintenece records that would prove other cameras were shot (by Knox County deputy sheriffs). Motion to supress search for lacking probably cause. Prosecutor and judge agree that without that search there is no case. Trial scheduled for March which is impossible without discovery. Speedy trial motion may also result in dismissal of charges with prejudice. Defense counsel Ron Newcomb.
Video: Preliminary hearing of Cliff Clark on trespass and assault. Would YOU point a shotgun if this "criminal" invaded your home? One deputy allegedly sells dope for his homicidal daddy deputy as proven by living in a $500,000 home. The actual Redflex shooter is a Knox County sheriff deputy, according to Knox County deputies. Defense lawyer Richard Holcomb was paid $17,000 then immediately moved to Hawaii without refund...
Prosecutors have refused to prosecute the Redflex Sniper bind over order to the grand jury, and offered to dismiss all charges against Cliff Clark, including later charges of pointing a shotgun at undercover copsters invading his home without identifying themselves. When Clark balked at signing a contract not to sue for false arrest, they sent a 2nd undercover police state death squad to kill him. Again. Clark's dojomaster said only cops know how to inflict those injuries to the face.
Robocop traffic scameras bribe every politician $76,000 - A ten percent surcharge was imposed on all traffic tickets to create the "Citizens Clean Election Fund." These lawmakers collect $16.50 for their campaigns each time a photo radar ticket. In 2008, traffic tickets generated $10,095,771 in revenue for the clean elections fund. Out of this amount, $7,710,739 million was disbursed to lawmakers and candidates during the primary and general elections -- an average of $72,063 each. Over the past four election cycles, Arizona politicians collected a total of $36,265,795 in campaign cash from the tax on speeding tickets.
Arizona: Cops Arrest Man at Redflex Anti-Camera Demonstration - While devoting a significant amount of resources to deal with the peaceful protest, police solved only 33 percent of robbery cases in Scottsdale. 158 serious assault cases and 3151 automobile burglary and vandalism cases went unresolved.
DC cops stole $178,000 from redlight scamera contractors - Karin Coppens, 49, falsified time sheets that claimed she had spent 3400 hours on photo radar duty between August 2004 and June 2008, either reviewing citations or sitting in a car while the vendor-owned vehicle generated automated tickets. The department pays a fifty-percent overtime salary bonus to employees performing these low-effort tasks. Coppens never actually worked this detail. Instead, she forged her supervisor's signature on 94 time sheets allowing her to boost her annual salary by about $45,000. Coppens now faces up to 18 months in jail and a fine of $30,000.
"Redflex Group is based in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Redflex Holdings Limited was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in January 1997. Redflex Traffic Systems Inc has contracts with more then 130 USA cities, and is the largest provider of digital red light and speed enforcement services in North America."
—Redflex.com.AU
"It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that. What the legal system wants you to do is just send in the fine and not ask any questions. This can be a big money maker for some communities. One other form of defense to utilize on your behalf is the fact that when you are accused in court you must be faced by your accuser. Obviously the computer cannot appear in court as a defense method for the prosecution. Also, you do not have to identify yourself as the driver of the vehicle because it would violate your sixth amendment rights against self incrimination."
-Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, and Jes Beard, attorney at law in Chattanooga, Tennessee, JesBeard.com, "How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR"
"The results do not support the view that red light cameras reduce crashes. Instead, we find that RLCs are associated with higher levels of many types and severity categories of crashes. The model is estimating that, had an RLC not been placed at a particular intersection, we may have seen a 42% decrease in the accident rate at that intersection. The results do not support the conventional wisdom expressed in recent literature and popular press that red light cameras reduce accidents.... Our findings are more pessimistic, finding no change in angle accidents and large increases in rear-end crashes and many other types of crashes relative to other intersections. The fact that we find no benefit from decreasing severity of accidents suggests that there has been no demonstrable benefit from the RLC program in terms of safety. In many ways, the evidence points toward the installation of RLCs as a detriment to safety."
-North Carolina Urban Transit Institute, Burkey-Obeng Red Light Camera Study, July 1, 2004
Tennessee Attorney General Opinion 08-179 - QUESTIONS:
1. Does the issuance of citations for traffic violations based on photographic evidence
from cameras violate any constitutional right of citizens of Tennessee, including the right to due
process and equal protection and the right to privacy? 2. Do Tennessee=s statutes, rules, or regulations prohibit private vendors from making the determination, based upon photographic evidence, that a traffic violation has occurred? OPINIONS:
1. No. The issuance of a citation for traffic violations based on photographic evidence from a camera does not violate any constitutional right of the citizens of Tennessee. 2. Yes. Tennessee law specifically requires law enforcement personnel to review photographic evidence to determine whether a traffic violation has occurred. (NO MENTION THAT ALL CAMERA TICKETS CAN BE IGNORED FOR LACKING PERSONAL SERVICE OF PROCESS BY SIGNATURE per Rule 4 of Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure)
"COMES now Plaintiff to hereby sue the above parties as a result of the unlawfully deprives or hinders her access to the courts, a civil right, on August 8, 2006, when she was sent a City of Knoxville, Tennessee, Red Light Photo Enforcement Program Notice of Violation/Citation, although innocent. That in committing the acts alleged herein, Defendants, acting in concert, committed the act of civil conspiracy, under state law and 42 U.S.C. § 1985, by agreeing to act together to harm the Plaintiff, and other members of the public, each acting for the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of harm against Plaintiff, agreeing that one or more will engage in these acts. Plaintiff seeks an award of $1,000,000.00 in compensatory damages. That punitive damages are appropriate in an amount to be calculated."
—David Hamilton, attorney at law, class action lawsuit to refund millions of dollars in robocop traffic tickets, JUDY WILLIAMS, plaintiff, vs REDFLEX TRAFFIC SYSTEMS INC., CITY OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, BILL HASLAM as MAYOR OF THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE CITY COUNCIL, REDFLEX TRAFFIC SYSTEMS INC., d/b/a WWW.PHOTONOTICE.COM, MICHAEL L. SULLIVAN, and UNKNOWN, Defendants; Case No.: 3:06cv400; UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE, AT KNOXVILLE, filed October 16, 2006
(lawsuit censored by Knoxville News Sentinel, WBIR TV and WATE TV "News") - Mirror Complaint -- Mirror Complaint -- Brief in Opposition to Redflex Motion to Dismiss -- Amended Complaint -- NOW ON APPEAL TO U.S. SIXTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
"When a case is decided by memorandum opinion it shall be designated "MEMORANDUM OPINION,"shall not be published, and shall not be cited or relied on for any reason in a subsequent unrelated case. Onks appeals from an order of the Circuit Court at Putnam County directing him to pay $315.00 plus interest to the City of Cookeville for twenty-one parking violations. Jerry Burgess appealed from an order of the Circuit Court at Cookeville directing him to pay $1,815.00 plus interest for 121 parking violations. Burgess, however, failed to file an appellate brief, and, we affirm the judgment of the trial court as against him. Over a period of approximately three years Onks parked vehicles in metered spaces in the downtown area of Cookeville in violation of Cookeville City Code, Title 9, Chapter 5, Section 9-508 on twenty-one (21) occasions for which he was given citations. When Onks did not pay the citations, warrants were issued on each of the alleged parking violations. At the hearing on the warrants, Onks contended that all parking ordinances of the City of Cookeville were invalid and unconstitutional under Article 11, Section 8 of the Tennessee Constitution and under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because the city had reserved some parking spaces on city streets to citizens, entities, and government officials [judges] while enforcing overtime parking violations against him. The factual basis of Onks' defense is that the City of Cookeville granted special parking privileges for various individuals and businesses by erecting reserved parking signs and specifying loading zones in the downtown area of Cookeville."
-Tennessee Court of Appeals, City of Cookeville v. Onks, 1993 WL 398472, Tenn.App., 1993. Oct. 1, 1993 [Pirate News Note: Onks and Burgess attorneys at law "lost" in city court, "lost" in county circuit court, "lost" in Tennessee Court of Appeals, the filed appeal with TN Supreme Court, at which point City of Cookville voluntarily dismissed all 142 parking tickets, voluntarily ripped up 200 parking meters in downtown Cookville, and voluntarily gave all citizens free parking, out of fear of setting a statewide legal precedent requiring free parking. Constitutional Equal Protection doctrine under the 14th Amendment requires that when one group of citizens gets immunity from prosecution, then everyone gets immunity from prosecution for that same "crime". The 14th Amendment freed the black slaves after the US Civil War.]
Gunfire Destroys Speed Cameras - Spanish vigilante blasts speed cameras with .22 caliber rifle. A vigilante in Alicante, Spain used a rifle to blast a set of speed cameras last week. The machines had hung from a gantry high above the Avenida Caja de Ahorros in Vistahermosa ticketing the motorists below. The vigilante fired several .22 caliber rounds into the side of the device while avoiding being filmed in the act. In total, the vigilante destroyed four ticketing machines, leaving the area with only two cameras capable of generating tickets for the local government. No witnesses have come forward to identify the vigilante and police have no leads. 7/15/2008
The Battle of Athens Tennessee
500 veterans and farmers make citizens arrests and fire machine guns at 300 crooked cops, deputies, THP, election commission and state rep and dynomite the jailhouse to stop bogus traffic tickets
Undercover Knox deputies stage home invasion - "A man knocked at my front door 04-17-08. The man was not wearing a uniform. I later learned that he was attempting to serve an illegal and improper trespassing warrant from the University of Tennessee. Why was a no-trespassing warning issued to a student? The University refuses to give a reason, either to myself or even to the media. However, I have learned that Dean Davis, and University of Tennessee Police chief August J. Washington authorized my arrest after I was invited to the University by University staff. I have the dated email invitations. The man at my front door was not in uniform. I asked him to wait a minute. I was on the telephone with my sister. Fortunately, my sister became my witness through the entire siege. The man kicked in my front door as I was going up stairs. I retrieved a shot gun and retreated to a back room. I held this man and one other man at bay with a shot gun to protect myself from home invasion. Both men threaten to kill me. I asked, ‘Who are you, and what do you want? Neither man was in uniform. At first, the men refused to answer my questions. After the men identified themselves as police and explained why they were in my house, I laid down the shot gun. I am very fortunate to have a witness for everything I am recounting. More on this story later. Keep checking back. I apologize to my neighbors for not being able to wave while handcuffed. I call for the resignation of: University of Tennessee Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee Dean of Students Maxine Davis, University of Tennessee Associate Dean of Students Ron Laffite, University of Tennessee employee Jamie Pontius-Hogan, University of Tennessee Chief of Police, August J. Washington, University of Tennessee Police officer, Lt. Dana P. McReynolds."
-Clifford Clark, A NIGHT IN JAIL AFTER MY DOOR WAS KICKED IN
"Cliff clark has not been convicted of shooting Redflex private property, and he never confessed, and no witness saw him do it. Clark never got a redlight ticket from Redflex. Clark's guns and ammo were 100% legal, as is his right to self defense from home invasion. No one needs to be a student to have access to UT campus, which is part of City of Knoxville. JJ Jones, isn't he the unelected-fired-unelected "sheriff", after Teflon Tim Hutchinson was fired for election fraud? Jones said Hutch stole cars at West Town Mall with convicted copkilling towtrucker Roy Lee clark, but Jones never bothered to arrest Hutch, who probably told him who the snitch cop was (so the towtrucker hired a hitman who killed his cousin). Jones refused to arrest Hutch, and rehired him to get an $85,000/year pension. The previous Knox sheriff Joe Jenkins was jailed for $1-million cartheft to feed his cocaine addiction. Knox deputies must pay $15,000 to $25,000 bribes to be promoted to Sgt or Lt. Mafia govt robocop scamera contractors were busted sabotaging their own cameras in dispute over govt contract in Washington DC, so why not Redflex, who makes a $77,000 profit off each damaged camera? The alleged "criminal trespass" on "UT campus" is an alleged ban on "an entire city", since "UT" is part of City of Knoxville. I doubt anyone can be banned from an entire city, that they live in. There was no Order of Protection or TRO signed by a judge banning clark, and UT admits it never served Clark with proper notice to "ban him from campus". Thus a charge of "criminal trespass" must be dismissed, for failure to meet the Essential Elements of the crime, which are: (1) personally told to leave a specific area, (2) refusal to immediately leave that area. Prosecutors will argue that since Clark "opened" his door, thus he "voluntarily consented" to home invasion, since deputies knew from his registered gun records that he had access to firearms. So the so-called "arrest warrant" probably did not allow arrest or search of his home, but was merely service of process of a criminal SUMMONS to appear in court at a later date, which is NOT a "warrant". There probably was NOT an "arrest warrant" nor "search warrant". This is an example of why folks install peepholes and 2-way videocams on their front doors, to prevent home invasion by police state death squads. And why smart folks ALWAYS tape record their conversations with cops, who routinely testiLIE in court. Here's undercover audio of 5 TN cops torturing a man in his home, to force him to sign a "voluntary consent to search" contract. Those 5 cops are now in prison, and a $17-million lawsuit has been filed for official oppression."
-PirateNewsdotorg, WBIR Forum, Alleged redlight shooter charged with allegedly pulling shutgun on deputies, 24 April 2008
"The deputies say they introduced themselves and knocked. Clifford Clark says they broke in without warning and threatened to shoot. Now it's up to a Knox County grand jury to decide what comes next. Clark, 47, faces charges of criminal trespass and aggravated assault. Prosecutors said he ignored an order earlier this year to stay off University of Tennessee property and then pointed a shotgun at a Knox County Sheriff's Office deputy serving a trespassing warrant April 14. General Sessions Judge Tony Stansberry sent the case to the grand jury Wednesday. Clark had faced two aggravated assault charges, but assistant prosecutor Willie Lane dropped one count, saying he pointed the gun once at a single deputy. Those charges came after Clark's arrest last year in the shooting of a red-light camera. Knoxville police said Clark used a high-powered rifle to shoot out the camera after it caught him running a red light Nov. 25, 2007, at the corner of North Broadway and Interstate 640. That case remains pending in court. Clark later set up a Web site, www.cliffspeaks.com, which pokes fun at the case, and started handing out teddy bears and T-shirts in support of his cause. UT police Lt. Dana McReynolds testified Wednesday he sent Clark, a former nursing student, an e-mail March 28 warning him to keep away. He didn't explain the ban. Clark e-mailed back to demand a reason and offer him a teddy bear. "Might I suggest a shredder for your notice?" Clark wrote. University officials said Clark showed up at least three times after getting the e-mail. Clark's lawyer, Rick Holcomb, said Clark never bothered anyone, always left when asked to and didn't understand McReynolds' warning. "This e-mail came out of the blue," Holcomb said. McReynolds said he'd included his phone and fax numbers in the e-mail, offered to meet Clark with a printed copy of the notice and never got a follow-up call. UT police charged Clark with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor. Two KCSO plainclothes deputies, Bobby Lawson and Nick Carroll, testified Clark shut the door on them when they showed up at his home in Powell to serve the warrant. The officers kicked in the front door and followed him inside, where Carroll said Clark confronted him with a shotgun outside an upstairs bedroom. Clark never fired a shot and ultimately gave himself up, the deputies said. "It's not illegal to own a shotgun, is it?" Holcomb asked. "But it is illegal to point it at an officer of the law," Carroll said. A search of the house turned up shotguns, pistols and armor-piercing bullets, Carroll testified. Clark and his lawyer said the officers never showed badges or identified themselves and didn't get his consent for a search. The deputies said they did. Clark remains free on bond."
-Matt Lakin, Knoxville News Sentinel, Trespass, assault charges to grand jury, August 28, 2008
"AFGHANISTANVILLE, TENN. - UT employees testified that Clark was banned from campus for posting a website, and not for any other reason, and that he was a student visiting public offices (seeking to re-enroll), who never interfered with employees, and who immediately left when asked. The UTPD chief testified that he never properly served notice on Clark of a "UT no trespass order", and that he conducted zero investigation into the trespass charge, before getting an arrest warrant. Clark's lawyers subpoenaed undercover deputies to wear the same clothes they wore on the day of the arrest - T-shirts and jeans. Deputies admitted they always "dress like criminals", do not wear badges, and park their patrol car out of sight when serving arrest warrants. Deputies admitted their arrest report stated they never identified themselves as deputies when they knocked on Clark's door. Clark's sister, a retired Air Force historian with a Top Secret clearance, testified that Clark is deaf in one ear, proven by Clark's medical records, which Judge Stansbury refused to allow into evidence. Deputies testified that Clark asked them to wait at the door until he could turn down some music and hang up the phone. Clark's sister said Clark was expecting a homeowners association to visit at that time, 7pm. After Clark closed the door, a deputy kicked down the locked door, and they ran inside, "screaming". Clark's sister testified she was on the phone the entire time, hearing unknown intruders screaming they were going to shoot Clark, who failed to identify themselves as police, and fearing "that her brother was being murdered". Clark aimed a lawful shotgun at the intruders, who had not identified themselves. A deputy testified the he was terrified and ran screaming out of the house, calling for backup, having "flashbacks of Afghanistan". Deputies testified Clark immediately surrendered when told they were deputies. Clark's sister said she heard the deputies throw Clark down the stairs. Her phone records proved the phone call, and a deputy testified that he spoke to her on that same phone call. Deputies testified Clark never signed a "consent to search" contract. Defense lawyers moved to strike all evidence seized inside the home, including testimony by deputies after they entered the home. Motion to strike is required in general sessions court before discovery regarding probable cause is allowed. Clark's lawyers argued the trespass warrant was invalid under TN Code, and the "assault" was lawful self-defense by necessity, due to home invasion by apparent criminals. Judge Standberry refused to allow defense lawyers to submit a legal memorandum of case citations. The burden of proof for probable cause in a preliminary hearing is a mere 51%. This is merely an accusation made under oath. No evidence is required. Judges admit that judges rarely dismiss charges against innocent people during probable cause hearings, since that would increase risk of lawsuits against police. The national average for finding "probable cause" at preliminary hearing is 97%. Clark won dismissal of 33% of the charges. Lawyers joke that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, since the defense is never allowed to defend itself. Yet Clark was never indicted for allegedly shooting a Redflex camera.
Clark never received a Redflex traffic ticket. Redflex is a foreign military corporation in Australia that profits from up to 100% of ticket revenue, that replaces US police, replaces US courts, and replaces US government. A federal class action to refund all Redflex tickets in Knoxville is currently on appeal to the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati. Lawyers agree that the best way to win a Redflex ticket is to throw the ticket in the trash and ignore it, for lacking personal service of process, which is required in all lawsuits per Rule 4 of the TN Rules of Civil Procedure. It's alleged that the first person to shoot a Redflex camera in Knoxville was a deputy sheriff, according to Knox County deputies. That shooter was never arrested."
-John Lee, Pirate News, August 28, 2008 - Video: Preliminary hearing on probable cause
DEADLIEST SCHOOL MASSACRE: BATH SCHOOL BOMBED IN MICHIGAN BY INSIDE JOB CONTROLLED DEMOLITION OF ONE TON OF PREINSTALLED EXPLOSIVES - SUICIDE BOMBER/SNIPER WAS AN ELECTED POLITICIAN SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER WORKING INSIDE THE SCHOOL WHO PERSONALLY WIRED THE DYNOMITE
"It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that. What the legal system wants you to do is just send in the fine and not ask any questions. This can be a big money maker for some communities. One other form of defense to utilize on your behalf is the fact that when you are accused in court you must be faced by your accuser. Obviously the computer cannot appear in court as a defense method for the prosecution. Also, you do not have to identify yourself as the driver of the vehicle because it would violate your sixth amendment rights against self incrimination."
-Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, and Jes Beard, attorney at law in Chattanooga, Tennessee, JesBeard.com, "How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR"
"Here are some photo radar traffic ticket tips floating the net; don't know how much is fact and how much is myth. Feel free to add any knowledge or opinions you have about these. If you get a photo radar ticket in the mail, Don't go to any websites the ticket may tell you to visit, because you are acknowledging that you received the ticket... they have to prove that you knew you were supposed to appear in court. Don't call the courthouse asking questions about it, for the same reason. If you show up in court in person, they will match your face to the ticket and you are hosed. If you do get physically served a summons,So, here is your gameplan, in a nutshell: When they mail you a photo radar ticket, shelf it and ignore it. If you actually get served to go to court, prove that it wasn't you or your vehicle. Don't try some lame argument like, 'photo radar doesn't work!'... you will lose. Sure, you can cross examine the hired expert about the service records of the equipment, but he is going to smoke you and you will lose. Just use the Eddie Murphy Defense: 'It wasn't me'. Night time vigilantes with spray paint... tsk tsk tsk... that would be horrible."
-Qweekly Motorcycle Forums, Beat Photo Radar; Getting Out of a Photo Radar Ticket
"If you've ever been ticketed for speeding or running a red light, you already know that the fine you pay may only be the beginning of your cost. If it's your second offense, that mistake may very well drain a whopping $700 out of your pocket over the next three years. That's because, on average, a driver's insurance premiums can increase by 25 percent after a second violation. Attorneys who specialize in traffic court cases have very high dismissal rates based simply on technicalities. In many cases, with a little effort and research you can obtain the same results. Contrary to popular belief, Carroll says that camera-issued tickets are often the easiest to beat because a defendant has a constitutional right to question their accuser. Courthouses will rarely go through the trouble of bringing the video or picture to court, and even if they do, there is no human subject to question other than the officer who viewed the it. 'The minute he opens his mouth, you just object because it's hearsay and the ticket will be dropped,' Carroll says. 'Most people just don't have the courage to do this though. That's why some of these cities are making millions of dollars per camera. They know you're not going to do that.' While traffic cameras are becoming more common, their legality is being debated in courtrooms around the country."
-Craig Guillot, Bankrate.com, "How to beat that traffic ticket", March 30, 2007
Citizen's Rulebook and Jury Handbook - Every person on every jury has a right and responsibility to veto any law or ignore any fact in any case in order to vote for justice, contrary to the pathological lies by judges and prosecutors who are never under oath to tell the truth
"COMES now Plaintiff to hereby sue the above parties as a result of the unlawfully deprives or hinders her access to the courts, a civil right, on August 8, 2006, when she was sent a City of Knoxville, Tennessee, Red Light Photo Enforcement Program Notice of Violation/Citation, although innocent. That in committing the acts alleged herein, Defendants, acting in concert, committed the act of civil conspiracy, under state law and 42 U.S.C. § 1985, by agreeing to act together to harm the Plaintiff, and other members of the public, each acting for the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of harm against Plaintiff, agreeing that one or more will engage in these acts. Plaintiff seeks an award of $1,000,000.00 in compensatory damages. That punitive damages are appropriate in an amount to be calculated."
—David Hamilton, attorney at law, class action lawsuit to refund millions of dollars in robocop traffic tickets, JUDY WILLIAMS, plaintiff, vs REDFLEX TRAFFIC SYSTEMS INC., CITY OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, BILL HASLAM as MAYOR OF THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE CITY COUNCIL, REDFLEX TRAFFIC SYSTEMS INC., d/b/a WWW.PHOTONOTICE.COM, MICHAEL L. SULLIVAN, and UNKNOWN, Defendants; Case No.: 3:06cv400; UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE, AT KNOXVILLE, filed October 16, 2006
(lawsuit censored by Knoxville News Sentinel, WBIR TV and WATE TV "News") - Mirror Complaint -- Mirror Complaint -- Brief in Opposition to Redflex Motion to Dismiss -- Amended Complaint
NOTE THAT ALL APPEALS OF RED-LIGHT TICKETS SHOULD INCLUDE THE TEXT OF THAT FEDERAL LAWSUIT, AND MUST APPEAL TO KNOXVILLE CITY COURT, KNOX COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ($600 APPEAL BOND), TENNESSEE COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS, AND TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT, TO OVERTURN REDFLEX CONTRACT IN KNOXVILLE. AFFIDAVIT OF INDIGENCY AND HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION RESULTS IN NOT PAYING THE $600 APPEAL BOND. WHY ARE OTHER KNOXVILLE LAWYERS NOT JUMPING ALL OVER THIS MILLION-DOLLAR SLAM DUNK CASE...?
"You WILL pay any tax increase I tell you to pay! You CAN afford it!"
—Skull & Bones mayor/ambassador Victor "Victoria" Ashe, Knoxville city council, October 2000
"The night it all came down I could not stop shivering. It changed the way I viewed a lot of things. For the first time, sitting on Council [with mayor Ashe], I really felt I was in the presence of evil. I had disagreed with people on many occasions and felt strongly about many things, but I never ever had felt something I could describe as the presence of evil. Until that night. There was just darkness. Hopelessness. But never, until Danny's death and the appointment of someone other than his wife, and knowing the orchestration that took place to make it happen, did I realize that I could never again go back to that body without carrying with me my belief that they were capable of the worst possible actions."
—Knoxville councilmember Carlene Malone, Metro Pulse, "Malone Alone", December 13, 2001 (regarding "voter impeachment" recall in 2001 of mayor Victor Ashe, now ambassador to Poland, promoted by and romantically linked to his college roommate and fellow cheerleader George Bush Jr in homosexual Nazi Skull & Bones Senior Secret Society at all-male Yale University)
"It looks like a damn Habitrail with Rocky Top playing in the background. The people who designed it must be frigging brain dead - turning downtown into a theme park mall for Stepford Childs. Call in Disney and hoist the Mouse's Ears. The taxpayers will be paying for this fiasco for generations to come. It will never recover. Knoxville must be the most corrupt city on earth. People worry about the national government, but it's the local government people need to fear. Thanks to the debt from the mayor's downtown renovation schemes, this town will be bankrupt for generations to come. It will never recover."
—City Councilmember Carlene Malone to John Lee and Pirate News, discussing Skull & Bones mayor Victor Ashe's Billion-dollar welfare for Scripps-Howard's Universe Knoxville and arson of her 2 cars during Wrecker Commission hearings against Knoxville's Mafia-connected towing and garbage cartels, and before suing Mayor Ashe and his Wrecker-Inspected Beer Board
"There’s a hidden tax being levied on motorists today. In theory, this tax is only levied on
those who violate the law and put others in danger. But the reality is that the game has been
rigged. And we’re all at risk. We are told to accept the idea that our laws should be administered by machines—not
human beings—because it is a matter of safety. We must accept this expansion of government
and this Orwellian threat to our privacy because cameras are the solution to the so-called red
light running crisis. But why have so many people become wanton red light runners all of a sudden? The
answer seems to be that changes made to accommodate camera enforcement have produced
yellow light times that, in many cases, are shortened to the point that they are inadequate. And
when people come upon an intersection with inadequate yellow time, they are faced with the
choice either of stopping abruptly on yellow (risking a rear end accident) or accelerating. The
options for those confronting such circumstances are limited and unsafe. But each time a driver
faces this dilemma, government increases its odds for hitting the jackpot. But in the year that red light cameras first started collecting millions in revenue on our shores, those entrusted with developing our traffic safety
regulations dropped the requirement to fix signal timing, instructing engineers to “use
enforcement” instead."
—Congressman Dick Armey, House majority leader, The Redlight Running Crisis: Is it intentional? May 2001
"Matt Cates and Dr. Arun Chatterjee are crunching the numbers. One solution they are looking into is speed cameras, much like the red-light cameras Knoxville uses. 'We basically have a camera working with a radar gun to monitor traffic,' said Matt Cates. 'It automatically issues citations without a pull-over to the worst offenders in that area.' According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, four Tennessee communities use speed cameras. One of those communities is Chattanooga. "They do have fixed cameras that are always in place, constantly monitoring traffic," said Cates. 'The city also has mobile speed units that are staffed by officers.' UT's Center for Transportation Research is studying results across the nation. They want to see how speed cameras would work state-wide. They are currently combing out the pros and cons for TDOT. Speed cameras may or may not be the new eye in TDOT work zones. The center's results will be given to TDOT in 9 months."
-Stoney Sharp, WBIR TV, TDOT to consider speed cameras, 10 December 2007
Over 200,000 "criminal" lawsuits vs 160,000 residents in Knoxville every year...
"Complete freedom of the highways is so old and well established a blessing that we have forgotten the days of the Robber Barons and toll roads, and yet, under an act like this, arbitrarily administered, the highways may be completely monopolized, if, through lack of interest, the people submit, then they may look to see the most sacred of their liberties taken from them one by one, by more or less rapid encroachment."
-Justice Tolman, Supreme Court of the State of Washington, Robertson vs. Department of Public Works, 180 Wash 133, 147
"One hundred forty years ago, the Royal Society in England warned against the railroads, claiming that at speeds over 30 miles per hour, the air supply to the passenger compartment would be cut off and people would die from asphyxiation. And the college of physicians in Munich, for its part, warned that at 30 mph, travelers would suffer headaches, vertigo and possible lose their sight because of a blurring effect. Over 30 mph great catastrophies were predicted, because everyone knew that even a twig would shatter the wheels. Representative government was something thought up in the eighteenth Century when only the foolhardy few would risk the mud and the bandits to get to London or Philadelphia."
-James Burke, NASA Langley Research Center, The Impact of Science on Society, page 14, 1985
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their garments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear."
-Marcus Tullius Cicero, 42 BC
Note the military and police regulation haircut and calm demeanor. CLARK CLIFFORD is the name of the White House lawyer who wrote the infamous National Security Act to create the Central Intelligence Agency gestapo secret Police State death squads. CIA wrote OPERATION NORTHWOODS for homegrown False Flag sniper attacks and terror bombings in USA perped by Uncle Scam
CliffSpeaks.com - "Hi everyone. I am the man accused of shooting a red light camera. Prior to this incident, I had no opinion regarding red light cameras. I never considered myself a libertarian. I considered myself politically conservative. However, since I have been embroiled in controversy, I am force to pause and reflect. As a degreed engineer with expertise in human factors, and as a degreed psychologist, I have become intrigued with the red light camera issue."
Clifford Clark Caught on Tape - Cliff dogfighting a plane, flying a plane, jumping out of a plane, looking at giant trees, feeding the wild animals without shooting them
Jury Handbook - Every person on every jury has a right and responsibility to veto any law or ignore any fact in any case in order to vote for justice
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - Today, a man was arrested in Knoxville for allegedly shooting a Redflex robocop camera, using a high-powered rifle. This 30-06 caliber firearm was described as a "deer rifle" by the Media Mafia, but it's also a "sniper rifle" used by US military and Police State death squads in USA.
This is the first sniper attack against Redflex robocops on planet Earth.
Walmart RUGER MARK 77 30-06 Robocop Sniper Rifle for $695
HUNT THE BULLET HOLES - Knoxville police arrested a man Sunday morning for allegedly shooting a traffic light camera several times at the intersection of Broadway and Interstate 640
News reports claimed the sniper fired "3 shots", but the supplied video showed many hits on the Redflex scamera, on both the glass lens and the steel side. WBIR video showed only a close up of the Redflex camera with many bullet holes in the glass lens, without uncut video zooming out to show the actual location. Thus there is no chain of custody proving this bullet-riddled camera is the same video camera in Knoxville. Newspaper photos showed no bullet holes.
HUNT THE ROBOCOP SCAMERA - How do we know this is the same Redflex camera at Broadway and Interstate 640? WBIR video did not pan or zoom to prove this camera is in Knoxville or at the location alleged
Incidentally, this "domestic terrorist attack" against private property occurred in a city run by Skull & Bones mayor/ambassador Victor "Victoria" Ashe (George W Bush's gay lover running torture death camps for CIA in Poland), Satanic homosexual Bohemian Grove Scripps Howard (Knoxville News Sentinel), and confessed terrorists in Gangsta Govt running car-theft rackets worldwide to bomb US soldiers in Iraq, who also perped the treasonous 9/11 Massacres.
If this individual were truly upset with Redflex Corp, why didn't he join the current federal class action lawsuit, to set a legal precedent to kill Redflex and refund all Redflex tickets? Or file his own lawsuit? Or fight a legal battle in state courts, by appealing a Redflex ticket to Knox County Circuit Court, and set a legal precedent to kill Redflex? If he was upset about a redflex ticket, why didn't he just ignore it, as required by Tennessee Rules of Court? Why would he waste perfectly good bullets?
And why did he voluntarily consent to a search of his minivan? All he had to do is say NO, and he would not have been arrested. Or if arrested, the gun could not be used as evidence, and thus no way to convict him. By instantly confessing, he loses his rifle, probably loses his van, and has to pay $10,000s in legal bills.
Funny how this guy was pulled over at the alleged crime scene, told the cop "I shouldn't talk to you because I did something bad", then volunteered for search of his minivan, then confessed.
Funny how surveillance video from an unrelated business was located, confiscated, multiple copies made, then released by police within hours. It's been 6 years since 9/11, and dozens of videos are still censored, OK city bombing has been 12 years, and videos are still censored. Funny how Redflex immediately "fixed" the videocam WITHOUT replacing it, with its "overstocked" local inventory of spare robocops. Funny how the "fix" was immediately videotaped by TeeVee news (showing a guy on a ladder turning a screw on an undamaged robocop).
What is the background of the alleged sniper? Where was he born? Where does he work? Does he have family, and who are they? What's his employment history, military special ops, police intelligence, or Redflex? Is he a "confidential informant" salaried by a police agency, local, state or federal? Was this a covert op?
A security guard for Knoxville News Sentinel was employed by Uncle Scam to bomb "food mountains" in sports stadiums in Somalia, explode little girls into 3 chunks, and throw his supervosors out of windows. Other local covert operatives have serial killed over 50 people for Uncle Scam. NATO's Operation Gladio included dozens of terrorist bombings perped by Pentagon, CIA, MI6 (Redflex) in Europe. Pentagon's Operation Northwoods included US soldiers and CIA perping sniper attacks in USA, using agents provacateur.
Is this guy a police provocateur, like Knoxville mayor and KPD police chief Randy Tyree bragged in Metro Pulse, to his infiltrating UT "antiwar terror groups"?
Or like the "violent anarchists" employed by Police State death squads to "justify" martial law in Seattle, to crush democratic protest of WTO hostile takeover of USA? That same police chief is now a US congressman, on CSPAN this month running a comittee to kill the First Amendment to the US Constitution and arrest all Americans as "domestic terrorists", based on the Adam Gadahn Perlman, "a good Jewish kid from California" who joined AllCIAduh and is now USAma Bin Laden's official spokesman, whose parents and grandparents are directors of the Jewish Anti Defamation League for Jewish homegrown terrorists. The ADL teaches FBI and local police how to arrest "homegrown domestic terrorists" (i.e., everyone who says the word "Jew", and every Christian preacher who is not on the govt payrole). ADL officers have been arrested and convicted of domestic terrorist bombings of mosques in USA, and ADL has been forced to pay millions of dollars in court judgements for libel and slander, because the ADL routinely defames US citizens.
Infamous False Flag psyops by Uncle Scam include the US military "sniper/bomber" infiltration of Bohemian Grove Satanic human sacrifice cult and presidential homosexual nudist compound (which KNS owners and politicians are members of). And of course Pentagon/CIA's Operation Northwoods, with US govt snipers attacking USA to start a nuclear world war and assassinate President John F Kennedy, as confession to the 9/11 Massacres.
KPD sure caught the alleged Redflex shooter quickly, when so many violent crimes go unsolved and uninvestigated in Knoxville. Including the "unsolved" murder of KPD cop Tony Williams, never mind that pesky videotaped confession, recovery of the murder gun and arrest of the previously convicted murderer the night of the copkilling.
KNS, WATE and WBIR all spun this story as "Mean old patriot picks on poor little Redflex."
Those same disinfobabes laughed as they reported on martial law in Knox County, with forced evacuation at gunpoint of 40,000 residents for a "US Army chlorine nerve gas leak train derailment", led by 6-time convicted perjurer and fired sheriff Teflon Tim Hutchinson, with photos of RISING SMOKE FROM HOPPER CARS NOT THE TANKER CARS (WARGAME PSYOP WITH SMOKE BOMBS).
ALLEGED US ARMY NERVE GAS TRAIN DERAILMENT IN KNOXVILLE TENNESSEE? - Funny how the hot smoke is rising from Hopper Cars instead of from the single black tanker car with cold acid.... Simulated smoke bombs could easily be tossed into the hopper cars by NATO military forces plotting Urban Warfare martial law takeover of Knoxville and Knox County.
VIDEO: Here's my speeches against Redflex to city council, with "judge" John Rosson admitting crashes INCREASED in Knoxville thanks to Redflex. So WNOX/Redflex trial lawyers threatened to sue me for $150,000, for daring to report the truth about Redflex.
Knoxville News Sentinel was paid a $20-million bribe by City of Knoxville Municipal Corporation to STFU about these FACTS (free new KNS HQ and free cleanup of KNS toxic waste dump on State St):
REDFLEX IS AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION AND AUSTRALIA IS NOT IN ARIZONA.
REDFLEX AND CITY OF KNOXVILLE CORP ARE SUED IN A CLASS ACTION FILED IN KNOXVILLE FED COURT, TO REFUND ALL TICKETS AND PAY FOR THE INCREASE IN CRASHES. FILED BY LAWYER DAVID HAMILTON.
ALL LAWYERS KNOW THAT THE BEST LEGAL DEFENSE TO PHOTO TICKETS AND PARKING TICKETS IS TO IGNORE THEM AND THROW THEM AWAY, BECAUSE THEY LACK MANDATORY PERSONAL SERVICE OF PROCESS AS REQUIRED IN ALL CIVIL LAWSUITS, PER TN CODE, TN RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE AND KNOXVILLE CODE OF ORDINANCES.
ALL US CITIZENS HAVE A CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED RIGHT TO TRAVEL WITHOUT AN INTERNAL PASSPORT DRIVER LICENSE CONTRACT EXTORTED AT GUNPOINT BY POLICE STATE DEATH SQUADS. DURESS VOIDS ALL CONTRACTS. WITHOUT THAT CIVIL CONTRACT, NO COURT HAS JURISDICTION OVER TRAFFIC TICKETS. THP SOLD FAKE I.D. "DRIVER CERTIFICATES TO 300,000 ILLEGAL ALIENS SINCE 9/11/2001, SINCE ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE DRIVER LICENSES NOT IDENTIFICATION.
6TH PLANK OF COMMUNIST MANIFESTO IS "GOVT CONTROL OF COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION." LICENSES TO TRAVEL AND TRAFFIC TICKETS ARE UNAMERICAN! ROBOCOPS TURN US HIGHWAYS INTO TOLL ROADS OWNED BY FOREIGN CORPORATIONS!
In Europe, where guns are banned, they give the robocops flaming necklaces of old tires filled with gasoline, or Thermite. But are these Euroyobs employed by the camera companies, to increase their overtime on no-bid cost-plus govt contracts?
By: Brian Holt, Photographer
By: Yvette Martinez, Reporter
WBIR TV
11/26/2007
A $50 citation could multiply into a penalty including jail time and thousands of dollars in fines and damages, after a Knoxville man told police he shot a red-light camera to avoid a ticket.Advertisement
Forty-seven-year-old Clifford Edward Clark III is in jail, charged with felony vandalism and reckless endangerment. Police say he shot and disabled the red light camera on Broadway near I-640 early Sunday morning.
Redflex is the company that maintains and installs Knoxville's red light cameras. They have more than a thousand cameras in 20 states, and they say they've never had one shot at with a hunting rifle.
"We had officers that were in the area. They overheard gunshots," KPD spokesperson Darrell DeBusk said. "They started to investigate, and that's when they found a vehicle leaving a business and trying to leave really quickly."
Surveillance video from Pittman Automotive's parking lot cameras show officers stop a silver mini-van driven by Clark shortly before 2:00 am on Sunday.
"They also found out that he had a rifle. They found 3 shell casings in the parking lot," DeBusk said. "They found a spent shell casing in the gun. They also found the red light camera had been shot four times."
According to police reports, investigators found a Ruger M77, Mack II 30-60 Rifle, and a new box of bullets with four missing. Police say one of the bullets went clear through the camera's casing.
"You've got to think about the danger that he put the public in," DeBusk said. "He was shooting a rifle at a camera with cars driving by."
When questioned, Clark told police a reason he'd shoot the camera.
"He made a statement that he was upset about getting a red light camera ticket," DeBusk said.
Investigators say they have no record of Clark ever getting a citation from a red light camera. However, records are only current up to November 20th. If Clark was caught by the cameras after the 20th, that information will not be turned over to Knoxville Police until later this week. If cited by a camera, he would have been fined $50.
"The penalty he's going to pay is going to be far greater than the $50 citation," DeBusk said.
Meanwhile, a repairman worked on the camera on Monday. A Redflex spokesperson says it should be operational Monday night.
Christina Weeks with Redflex says there are actually 3 cameras in each unit. Weeks says the damage to the unit is extensive, but she doesn't have a dollar amount yet. Redflex will pay to repair the camera, but those costs could be passed on to Clark if he is convicted.
Clark is in jail on an $8,000 bond.
Comments:
Hey man... nice shot!
-Knuckles
Hey when you get out of jail, how bout finishing the cameras off in the other parts of town. YOU ARE MY HERO!!!!
-stick it to tha man
$50 buys a lot of bullets.
-IceBergTYS
I hate those cameras. Hopefully more people will shoot them out. More power to you man!
-Jo Momma Kicks Asz
What percent of the violations are for right turns on red?
-selfopiate
YOU GO! GET ALL THE CAMERAS!
-ha ha ha
I hope someone else comes and finishes the job on all of the other ones. They are a money grab only.
-TnHunter
Way to go Clifford!! Now can you shoot the one at Clinton Highway and Merchants? You are awesome!!!
-Santa Claus
Great idea! Shoot them all and we can spend even MORE tax dollars replacing them.
-Knox Girl
Good for him! America needs more men like this one. We are sitting right back and letting liberty erode, Thanks Cliff I hope this is your first offense.
-Tennessee Jed
Way to go! One down, a bunch more to go. Just remember the silencer next time though.
-little me
Good for him!!!!!!!
-Jim
GO VOLS!
-BAD BOYS BAD BOYS
Thank goodness Dick Cheney was not in this hunting party. He may have winged a few citizens.
-DickCheney
Get your "FREE CLIFFORD" bumper sticker now.
-Cocke County Native
Kind of funny in a scary redneck way.
-Kind of funny
"Police said this is the first incident of someone shooting one of the devices installed at 15 intersections across the city.
Offenders pay a $50 fine, but the violation is not entered on a person's driving record." Am I reading this right? A person can fire off a salvo of bullets at public property in the city and incur only a $50 fine and no record? That's what it says.
I'm guessing that the two sentences should not have been put together. The second sentence refers to the fine for running a red light. But, hypothetically, a person reading this could be swayed to take his rifle out into the city and ping public property... or worse. "Why, it's only a $50 fine if you get caught. No big deal." C'mon News-Sentinel editors, at least TRY to look like you're doing your job.
-wewhite
In the very famous word of Elmer Fudd........"Be vewwwy vewwwwy quiet I.m hunting wed light twaffic cameras"
-ugloc35
The best part about Redflex robocops is that 50 KPD cops were terminated to pay for them. Cool.
-piratenewstv
A North Knoxville red light camera struck by three rounds from a high-powered rifle during the weekend is out of commission until Tuesday, police said today.
Knoxville police arrested a man Sunday morning for allegedly shooting a traffic light camera several times at the intersection of Broadway and Interstate 640.
Authorities don't know why Clifford E. Clark III, 47, of Knoxville, allegedly put three bullet holes in the Redflex Traffic Systems camera.
The three rounds found their mark. Knoxville Police Department Capt. Gordan Catlett, who oversees the red light camera program, said the bullets damaged the two still cameras and the video component of the equipment.
Catlett said the damaged metal box hit by the rounds was removed and is being held as evidence in the charges against Clark.
New components are expected to be installed sometime Tuesday, Catlett said. In the meantime, the equipment is not functioning.
Knoxville Police Department officers first responded when they heard four shots fired at 2 a.m. Sunday while on routine patrol of the area.
They searched the area, and one officer spotted a minivan leaving a closed business "very suspiciously."
When police pulled Clark's vehicle over, they found a .30-06-caliber deer rifle on the floor of the minivan. "He stated he didn't want to say what he was doing there because he didn't want to get into trouble," said Lt. Bob Wooldridge, a KPD spokesman.
Upon further investigation, they discovered that the traffic camera had three bullet holes in its camera box.
Clark, of Wildercliff Lane, was arrested on charges of felony vandalism and reckless endangerment. The rifle was seized by police.
Clark remained this afternoon in the Knox County Sheriff's Detention Facility in lieu of $8,000 bond.
Knoxville installed its first red light camera in April 2006 at the Alcoa Highway and Kingston Pike interchange.
A year later, 15 of the city's intersections had the Redflex Traffic System cameras. The city signed a three-contract with the company in November 2005 for the cameras.
"I think dressing rooms in clothing stores should have cameras. I mean, if you arent shoplifting, you have nothing to worry about, right? I applaud this mans efforts. I have to say, I have been tempted to do the very same thing."
-TheJim
"My hero. Good for him."
-shoes
"Anyone started a legal defense fund for this guy yet!?! Sounds like it was an illegal traffic stop since there is no evidence he was committing a traffic offense. I wonder how many around here would complain if THIS fellow managed to beat his charge on a "technicality"! L.O.L. Dang shame he got caught!"
-alexander_gamble
"If people start destroying these cameras, I bet they will install cameras to guard the red-light cams. And if people start destroying the red-light guard cameras they might need to install cameras to watch them. And if people start ...... ~grin~"
-jkin
"Red light/speed cameras are a far greater menace to society than STDs are! Far more people are killed each year by intersection cameras photographing their vehicle than are killed by testing for STDs. So, by that reasoning, I guess the cameras ARE an extreme danger to life and limb and should be shot at whenever possible. Knoxville could become a regular downtown Baghdad."
-wewhite
"sheep."
-apierce
"no kidding.."
-nextedition
"'No matter how you feel about them, you cannot destroy public property.' The cameras are private property, owned by RedFlex."
-JoeCarbuncle
"Well since the police basically have an automated system to do their job catching traffic light violators have PRIVATE property crimes dropped? If this was your house that was shot would it be in the paper? probably not! If someone broke in your car would it be in the paper? probably not! Lets lay off a few cops since we have the technology to automate enforcement of traffic light violations and speed violators. What are the cops doing with all their spare time???? Does the statistics show that crime has dropped in other areas? (or does it just show Redflex and the City of Knoxville getting a fist full of cash everyday?) It was just a matter of time that someone took a shot at the money grubbing devices..I say go back and try for more!!"
-lynncomm
"Redflex- 1.5 Fist Full $$. City of Knoxville-1 Fist Full $$. I don't understand! Were the "Redflex Traffic Systems" out of season or was he hunting in a baited intersection? Cameras don't call in sick, have clothing allowances, stop for gas or drawl a pension. Lay off several of the humanoids!"
-111
"First let me say, while I have thought about shooting the cameras myself, that is not something I would actually do. I feel sure this guy has some "mental issues" he needs to deal with because nobody in his right mind would take that action. Good message, bad vehicle"
-Iwish95
"We should NOT HAVE THE CAMERAS because cameras can not use logic to make a decision. There are certain times logic is needed. You can not say everything is black and white. Next will be the tickets for driving 56 in a 55 mph, after all, 56 in a 55 is breaking the law. This makes no sense. Even that wouldnt be so terrible, if our money werent being ssent to a company owned by a foreign entity. It is all about money..."
-TheJim
"Can anyone tell me what it is going to cost to have a red light camera stuffed and mounted?and how many points did it have?"
-ugloc35
"Well who has the ballz to come up with a meeting place and time and lets get a petition started to get rid of the blame things? If its that easy...I'd be willing to donate a few $$$ to the cause to get rid of the cameras rather than give my money to redflex/COK on a technicallity!!"
-lynncomm
"Paone, nice suggestions for the legal method of public debate for camera removal, but it was already tried prior to the installation of the cameras by numerous individuals who petitioned our city council. Facts and figures were given regarding these cameras, the number of rear-end collisions caused by these cameras, and the number of cities that were not renewing their contracts with Red Flex. We had this data. The public also knew that this was a money making scheme and had nothing to do with safety. If safety were the main issue, the length of yellow light intervals would not have been shortened. This should have been our first clue because the same thing was being done in other cities and we had their data to prove it. The public also seemed to know that this system was outdated and Knoxville was being duped into believing this system would be good for its citizens, while other cities were glad to be shed of the contraptions. And they laugh at us for being on the tail end of the deal, kinda like how fashions seem to reach us after its gone out of style everywhere else."
-jmode
"Etacovda. You miss the point. The yellow light was reduced to where the red light would come with no warning. Try stopping your car on a dime, even going the speed limit. It’s not that easy. The yellow light is there for a warning to slow down and stop. With no warning, people would have zero response time to the red light and run it. Therefore get charged with a $321 fine (San Diego County fine for running a red)."
-pcrary
"Traffic light systems are unsafe. There are safer interesection designs such as roundabouts which greatly reduce the conlflict points. Also, eliminate as many left turns across traffic and install u-turns with traffic calming devices. Punishment is not an effective tool. Think outside the box."
-selfopiate
"Just another step in privatising the police force?? How long before Blackwater or some such outfit is doing police work? This worries me more than red light cameras. They[gov] have taken criminal law and turned it into civil law with a civilian co as an enforcing agency with out due process. Who was asked if they wanted this change? What is next? Speed cameras run by redflex? How about private cops patrolling the bars giving random breathilizer tests and issuing public drunkiness tickets with a hefty fine? Why not private cops for all police work? By contracting it out the county has no personnell cost and if something goes wrong they can always blame it on the contractor. I know this is a stretch but is it possible? With things going the way they are YOU BE THE JUDGE! Why are light with cameras set with short yellow lights? Why not standardize them all at say 5 or 6 seconds? It would make it easier to estimate stopping distance/time."
-Waldo
"This guy should be made grand marshall of the Knoxville Christmas parade for his heroic actions. He should not be in jail for doing what thousands of us wish we had the guts to do."
-j_kaos
"This page is probably the highlight of the entire site. To my knowledge this is the largest collection of wrecked Gatsos on the internet, and its growing rapidly. So long as these cameras are robbing motorists of their cash they will continue to be destroyed.
"Five Gatsos have just gone up in Nuneaton. One of them was completely destroyed before it had even gone live. The workmen hadn't even finished installing it...."
And check out the chest-pounding vigilante manifesto here... my goodness me.
"Motorists Against Detection, the vigilante anti-speed camera group have announced a summer of MADness which will see them target for destruction all speed cameras in the UK. It’s now going to be a period of zero tolerance against all speed cameras, said their campaigns director Capt Gatso. (((A remote descendant of General Ludd, I reckon.)))
"The group claims speed cameras are just money-making machines and they have given the authorities long enough to prove their worth. The first camera to fall in the summer campaign is in south east London on the A2 at the Sun in the Sands roundabout on-slip heading northbound towards the Blackwall Tunnel.
"Capt Gatso, the group's campaigns director, (((he's a multitalented guy))) said: "We have completely pulled it out of the ground, it is now lying flat. You can see some of our handiwork posted on www.speedcam.co.uk.
"He added: In many areas the cameras have not saved one life - the statistics for road deaths haven't gone down. In some areas they have actually gone up - in Essex, for instance, which has a high density of cameras there are more people being killed. We are now planning to target any and all cameras until the Government sees sense and rethinks its road safety policy. Before we had speed cameras we had the safest roads in Europe - since their introduction this is no longer true."
The announcement will surprise many in road safety circles since the group has publicly declared it would not attack cameras outside schools or on high streets. But Capt Gatso said: We need to focus attention on what the cameras are about. We’ve said we wouldn’t attack the ones in built up and urban areas but that’s not where most of the cameras are. There are a lot of frustrated people among our members who have seen the number of cameras increase while road safety levels have fallen. Indeed, the only thing the cameras have done successfully is to reduce the number of traffic officers patrolling our roads and lose a lot of decent people their driving licences and their livelihoods. (((Giving them lots of spare time to wander around with big jugs of petrol and huge flammable tires to be flung round the necks of videocams.)))
"MAD is the UK’s only direct action anti-speed camera group and it’s been going since summer 2000. (((!))) In that time they have taken out just over 1,000 cameras. (((Can such things be?))) Their membership who are normally law-abiding people - vary in numbers but there is a hard core of around 200 (((I'd be guessing this figure means "20," but wow, for a saboteur gang, that's a lot))) people throughout the UK who use Internet chat forums, encrypted email and pay as you go phones to keep in touch and plan campaigns.
"The group says it has perfected a new and quick way of destroying speed cameras which will enable them to destroy a roadside camera in just a few seconds...".
Arizona Governor's Proposed Budget Counts on Cash From Photo Radar on State Highways
PAUL DAVENPORT
AP News
Jan 19, 2008
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano says the deployment of new photo radar or other speed enforcement technology on state highways is all about public safety. But her proposed state budget counts on the anticipated speeding fines to help erase a projected revenue shortfall.
The proposal, submitted to the Legislature late Friday, anticipates $120 million in revenue the first year, including $90 million in net income after expenses from the statewide effort. Even bigger dollar amounts are expected in future years.
The state faces a projected revenue shortfall of at least $1.2 billion in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
While some states use photo radar and similar technology on a limited basis in areas such as construction zones, experts said Arizona is in the vanguard of moving toward a widespread deployment of speed technology on highways.
"It wasn't designated primarily for revenue generation but since we have it (and) it works, we want to move statewide," Napolitano said. "We made that decision before the whole budget issue arose. Now we take advantage of it and use it for law enforcement highway safety purposes."
The governor's budget aides said Friday they could not immediately provide details on assumptions used to project the revenue estimate, including the numbers of expected violations.
Napolitano's plan needs approval by the Republican-led Legislature, and one key lawmaker expressed immediate opposition.
"I don't know whether Arizonans want to be policed by cameras," said Senate Transportation Chairman Ron Gould, adding that he plans legislation to require that voters decide the issue. "It smacks of Big Brother to me."
Proposals calling for even limited use of cameras have run into opposition in some states.
Maryland's transportation secretary on Tuesday told lawmakers that cameras in highway work zones would improve worker safety and reduce accidents, but lawmakers raised concerns on privacy, effectiveness and motive.
Arizona Automobile Association spokeswoman Linda Gorman said the 750,000-member group representing drivers supports photo radar as a way to improve traffic safety but not to help balance the state budget.
A year ago, Napolitano cited results from suburban Scottsdale's use of fixed cameras on a stretch of state freeway when she directed the state Department of Public Safety to begin researching the possible use of new speed enforcement devices.
An Arizona State University professor who studied the Scottsdale project found that it reduced speeding and accident rates. That system uses sensors embedded in the freeway to trigger cameras that snap photos of speeding vehicles. Motor vehicle records are checked to find the vehicles' owners, ultimately leading to citations for identified drivers.
By RAY MASSEY
London Daily Mail
29th December 2007
Digital speed cameras which capture drivers smoking or eating at the wheel are being introduced nationwide in a new move to hammer motorists.
Drivers will also face fines, bans and even jail for infringements such as driving without a seatbelt, using a hand-held mobile phone or overtaking across double white lines.
The hi-tech DVD cameras, which have instant playback, will also be used to provide photographic evidence against those eating sandwiches or rolling-up cigarettes at the wheel.
These are now considered serious offences under new guidelines drawn up for prosecutors.
The development will massively increase the number of fines and prosecutions against normally law-abiding drivers for relatively minor offences.
As well as being fined £60 and given three points on their licences, motorists now face two years in jail if their actions are considered to have been a factor in dangerous driving.
Virtually every police force in England, Wales and Scotland is now equipped with the new digital cameras. They were given Home Office approval in April but are quietly being rolled out nationwide.
More than 100 have been sold. The manufacturers have said their order book is full until next April.
The DVD cameras can operate as conventional speed traps. But thanks to the instant playback, they also double up to photograph motorists flouting laws other than speeding.
Set up by a police officer on sites such as motorway bridges, they constantly scan the cars and can digitally record drivers behind the wheel committing a vast array of minor traffic offences.
Crucially the new technology, called Concept, allows officers to play back the footage to locate, view and capture the offence instantly.
Photographs taken using the device show how effective it is, capturing pictures such as a man apparently steering his Renault with his bare feet and the driver of an Alfa Romeo with a mobile phone clamped to his ear.
The device is made and sold by Tele-Traffic UK whose chief executive, Jon Bond, is a former police chief superintendent in charge of speed cameras in Warwickshire.
He said: "It is the first camera to record offences other than speeding and give an instant playback.
"If the camera is being used for speed enforcement, but the police officer spots another driving offence being committed - or even thinks he saw something - he can play it back in a second. The offences are easily and quickly detectable."
Mr Bond, whose Warwick-based company employs 20, added: "At present, officers can record an offence such as driving with a mobile phone clamped to their ear or without a seatbelt but would then have to look through perhaps two hours of tape in order to find it again.
"Concept means that those operating the camera can digitally log everything. They are linked to the team in the back office who can instantly find the offence, see the proof and send out a penalty charge notice to the car's registeredowner.
"This will cut down massively on the amount of time police officers have to spend on paperwork and so speed up prosecutions. The days of the police having to chase after people who are infringing the law in these ways are gone. That will make the roads a safer place."
The Concept digital DVD technology costs £17,750. But police forces who already use Tele-Traffic's existing analogue (non-digital) system, can upgrade for a fraction of that price.
Smoking at the wheel was recently included in the Highway Code as something which courts can consider as a factor when police accuse drivers of failing to have proper control of their vehicle.
More than 300,000 drivers a day are still illegally using hand-held phones at the wheel, recent government figures revealed.
The penalties for using a handheld phone while driving, which was outlawed in 2003, were increased in February this year from a £30 fine to £60, plus three penalty points.
Under new sentencing rules, motorists using hand-held mobile phones could be jailed for two years and be disqualified if this was an aggravating factor in dangerous driving.
Those who kill while using a mobile face 14 years behind bars, under a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
Last October, Mr Bond and his Tele-Traffic team were under fire after admitting to undercover reporters posing as customers that speed cameras were a "scam" and that setting up cameras in new areas was the equivalent of having "a blank chequebook" that would result in "bucketfuls" of cash.
Self-styled Captain Gatso of the campaign group Motorists Against Detection said: "This is yet another example of the Big Brother surveillance society where there's no escape from the cameras."
Charles Bremner
London Times Online
December 14, 2007
French anti-terrorist police are hunting a “guerrilla” organisation that is blowing up speed cameras and demanding a ransom from the State.
Police are taking seriously claims from the Nationalist Revolutionary Army Faction (FNAR) that it is responsible for the destruction of six radar installations on roads in the Paris region over the past six months.
The latest attempted attack was on Tuesday on a motorway close to the village of Baillet-en-France, 20 miles north of the capital. The device, consisting of a bundle of explosive and a timer, did not detonate. It was spotted by a road maintenance team and defused after police closed the motorway for five hours.
The FNAR, which also calls itself the National Anti-Radar Front, is reported to be demanding a significant sum of money to halt the attacks, as well as tax cuts and less rigorous enforcement of the law on the roads.
The group sent its demands to the Interior Ministry in October. Worded in the grandiose jargon of 1970s revolutionary groups, it complained about the oppression of “the owner State which robs its citizens”. The police said they did not know if they were dealing with one person or a group, “but either way, this is dangerous stuff”.
Dozens of France’s 1,100 roadside speed cameras have been destroyed or vandalised since they were introduced in 2003 – later than in most neighbouring countries. The devices have contributed to a sharp drop in road deaths, but many drivers still consider their presence “unFrench” and a breach of their civil rights.
Many believe they were created to fill the state coffers with tens of millions of euros in fines a year. Many motorists rejoiced last month when officials reported that speed readings could be exaggerated if the cameras in the steel-encased units were slightly misaligned with the road. The Government said that the report was wrong.
Road safety campaigners deplored the violent attacks on the cameras, which were installed after the former President, Jacques Chirac, decided to get tough on France’s high death toll on the roads. “The speed cameras are more than symbolic,” said Chantal Perrichon, president of the League Against Highway Violence. “Thanks to them, we have saved so many lives.”
Police said that the attacks, which were carried out with primitive homemade explosives connected to a timer and which appear to be linked, represented a threat to passing drivers.
The gang is being compared to a mysterious group that planted bombs on railway tracks in 2003 and demanded a €10 million (£7.2 million) ransom. The authorities made two unsuccessful attempts to pay the ransom, including a delivery by a helicopter that failed to find a rendezvous point designated by the group.
The organisation was never traced and disappeared after announcing in 2004 that it was temporarily suspending its campaign while it improved its methods. Police said that the railway group appeared to be more professional than the speed camera saboteurs, but did not rule out a possible link between the campaigns.
President Sarkozy, who was the Interior Minister at the time of the railway campaign, has ordered police to crack down hard on the vandalism of speed cameras, which each cost thousands of euros to install. Attacks on them are not amusing and are an afront to the authority of the state, he said.
Speed cameras per 1,000 sq km
Ireland 0.3
Germany 0.7
France 2
Italy 7.2
Switzerland 16.1
UK 20.9
Netherlands 37.3
"Redflex Group is based in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Redflex Holdings Limited was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in January 1997. Redflex Traffic Systems Inc has contracts with more then 130 USA cities, and is the largest provider of digital red light and speed enforcement services in North America."
-Redflex.com.AU
"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power."
-Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini, Fascist dictator
Endgame - Trailer for the plan of the global elite to setup a criminal world government and steal all streets and highways in USA and turn them into toll roads for foreign corporations.
Endgame - Full-length premier on Google Video, with aerial views of George Bush Jr's treasonous NAFTA Superhighway toll roads for the King of Spain to steal trillions of taxdollars in USA.
Spanish corporation pays $12.8 billion bribe to steal Pa. Turnpike - A Spanish toll-road operator won the bidding war to operate the Pennsylvania Turnpike, offering $12.8 billion for a 75-year lease, Gov. Rendell said today. The proposal by Abertis Infraestructuras, of Barcelona, must be approved by the Pennsylvania legislature, and legislative leaders in Harrisburg have said the plan faces tough sledding with lawmakers. In making the largest bid ever for the private operation of a U.S. toll road, Abertis partnered with a subsidiary of U.S. investment bank Citigroup, and Spanish investment firm Criteria CaixaCorp. Abertis operates toll roads in Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Puerto Rico. The company also operates airports, telecommunications systems and parking garages. Under Rendell’s plan, the Abertis/Citi consortium would lease the turnpike for 75 years with the right to raise tolls 25 percent next year and 2.5 percent or the rate of inflation every year after that. Rendell called the lease plan “a very good deal for Pennsylvania crooks and foreign robber barons,” and he said it would steal $1.1 billion per year for road, bridge and transit projects for mafia contractors in the state, on average, over the next 10 years. The governor added, "Hell, I'll personally get paid millions of dollars in bribes. Suckers!"
NASCO Liars: Congressman Ron Paul Is "Confused" About NAFTA Superhighway - NASCO describes itself as a “non-profit organization dedicated to developing the world’s first international, integrated and secure, multi-modal transportation system along the International Mid-Continent Trade and Transportation Corridor to improve both the trade competitiveness and quality of life in North America.” It has received $250 million in earmarks from the U.S. Department of Transportation to adapt existing roads as part of one NAFTA trade corridor.
Consumers File Antitrust Class Action vs Comcast Cable Monopoly - Los Angeles, CA - On Thursday, September 20, 2007, consumers filed an antitrust suit in federal district court in Los Angeles against major media companies and major cable companies in the United States. The lawsuit challenges industry-wide agreements and practices that effectively mandate that consumers must purchase prepackaged tiers of bundled cable channels and cannot purchase channels or programming on an "a la carte" basis. The lawsuit alleges that the agreements and practices are unlawful restraints of trade in violations of the federal antitrust laws. The suit is brought as a class action on behalf of all consumers in the United States who, during the last 4 years, have paid for "expanded basic cable" subscriptions from the following cable or satellite companies: Time Warner Cable Inc., Comcast Corporation, Comcast Cable Communications, Inc., Cox Communications, Inc., The DirectTV Group, Inc., Echostar Satellite L.L.C., and Cablevision Systems Corporation. The suit also names the following media entities due to restrictive bundling agreements and practices that are passed on to consumers: NBC Universal, Inc. ("NBC"), Viacom Inc. ("Viacom"), The Walt Disney Company ("Disney"), Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. ("Fox"), Time Warner, Inc. ("Time Warner") (collectively "the programmer defendants"). According to a recent Federal Communications Commission study, consumers are charged approximately $100,000,000 per year for channels which, if offered "a la carte," they would not purchase. The plaintiffs and class representatives are represented by Maxwell M. Blecher and David W. Kesselman of Blecher & Collins, P.C. in Los Angeles. Read the class action complaint.
CTV threatens $150,000 lawsuit vs PNTV - General manager of CTV (aka WNOX FM and Redflex trial lawyers) sends cease and desist letter to John Lee, producer of Pirate News TV, for alleged "copyright infringement", for rebroadcasting John Lee's speach to city council, plus John Lee's telephone call to Knoxville city councilman Steve Hall's CTV show, and GOP congressional candidate Matt McLain's phone confrontation with self-appointed Knox County commissioner Sharon Cawood. Never mind that TV Guide Channel in NY City censored all CTV shows 2 months after PNTV first listed on TV Guide Channel - Page 2 - Never mind that WNOX FM is owned by Communist China
"Knox County Commissioner Sharon Cawood resigned from her job in the Circuit, Juvenile and Civil Sessions Court Clerk’s office. Cawood is one of five commissioners who also draw regular paychecks from Knox County. Cawood has been a commissioner since a controversial meeting Jan. 31 when commissioners selected her and seven others to replace eight commissioners tossed from office because of a state Supreme Court ruling upholding term limits. Many criticized the appointments, especially those of commission relatives. Cawood is married to Mark Cawood, one of the commissioners ousted by the term-limit ruling. The panel also appointed Frank Leuthold, a former commissioner and father of Commissioner Craig Leuthold, and Josh Jordan, son of then-Commissioner Diane Jordan. Questions about conflicts-of-interest arose regarding the five commissioners, including Sharon Cawood, who also work for the county. Cawood makes $43,260.10 annually as a supervisor in Quist’s office. Her commission salary is $19,446 a year. At the Jan. 31 commission meeting, Mark Cawood nominated his wife to be his replacement, though he abstained from voting. Sharon Cawood has worked in Quist’s office since December. All told, at least two-dozen commissioners and their relatives take home more than $1 million in county paychecks. The Knox County Ethics Committee will be looking at commissioners and family members working for the county when it researches a possible countywide nepotism policy, said Commissioner and Ethics Committee member Mike Hammond."
-Scott Barker, Knoxville News Sentinel, Cawood resigns county job, August 2, 2007
"COMES now Plaintiff to hereby sue the above parties as a result of the unlawfully deprives or hinders her access to the courts, a civil right, on August 8, 2006, when she was sent a City of Knoxville, Tennessee, Red Light Photo Enforcement Program Notice of Violation/Citation, although innocent. That in committing the acts alleged herein, Defendants, acting in concert, committed the act of civil conspiracy, under state law and 42 U.S.C. § 1985, by agreeing to act together to harm the Plaintiff, and other members of the public, each acting for the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of harm against Plaintiff, agreeing that one or more will engage in these acts. Plaintiff seeks an award of $1,000,000.00 in compensatory damages. That punitive damages are appropriate in an amount to be calculated."
—David Hamilton, attorney at law, class action lawsuit to refund millions of dollars in robocop traffic tickets, JUDY WILLIAMS, plaintiff, vs REDFLEX TRAFFIC SYSTEMS INC., CITY OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, BILL HASLAM as MAYOR OF THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE CITY COUNCIL, REDFLEX TRAFFIC SYSTEMS INC., d/b/a WWW.PHOTONOTICE.COM, MICHAEL L. SULLIVAN, and UNKNOWN, Defendants; Case No.: 3:06cv400; UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE, AT KNOXVILLE, filed October 16, 2006
(lawsuit censored by Knoxville News Sentinel, WBIR TV and WATE TV "News") - Mirror Complaint -- Mirror Complaint -- Brief in Opposition to Redflex Motion to Dismiss -- Amended Complaint
NOTE THAT ALL APPEALS OF RED-LIGHT TICKETS SHOULD INCLUDE THE TEXT OF THAT FEDERAL LAWSUIT, AND MUST APPEAL TO KNOXVILLE CITY COURT, KNOX COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ($600 APPEAL BOND), TENNESSEE COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS, AND TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT, TO OVERTURN REDFLEX CONTRACT IN KNOXVILLE. AFFIDAVIT OF INDIGENCY AND HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION RESULTS IN NOT PAYING THE $600 APPEAL BOND. WHY ARE OTHER KNOXVILLE LAWYERS NOT JUMPING ALL OVER THIS MILLION-DOLLAR SLAM DUNK CASE...?
"As Murfreesboro officials are mulling over the possibility of automated cameras to catch red-light runners, a similar system in Sumner County is facing a legal challenge. Hendersonville attorney Wayne Detring has filed a lawsuit challenging the city of Gallatin's use of its system after he received two tickets in the mail based on the camera's photographs. The system used by Gallatin features a computer that takes a picture of a vehicle as it runs a red light. The information is then processed, and the vehicle's owner is sent a ticket in the mail. Detring said the system doesn't follow proper evidentiary rules because there is nobody monitoring the cameras at the time the photograph is taken, so there is nobody to introduce it as evidence in court. In Gallatin, he said, a judge looks at a picture on a computer screen and then makes a judgment. "That's totally improper," he said. "If it's just automatically guilty, what's the point of having a court system." Fines to drivers caught by the system would be $50 and would be considered civil offenses, so as not to go on a driver's record, much like a traffic ticket."
-Turner Hutchens, Daily News Journal, Boro keeps an eye on red-light camera lawsuit, August 2, 2007
Attorney sues traffic light cameras - Akron Attorney Warner Mendenhall is challenging the legality of the traffic light cameras in Ohio. Stay tuned later this year for Ohio Supreme court ruling. CNN censors the fact these are private international corporatiosn replacing US cops and courts, using lack of personal service of process among many other Constitutional violations of due process. Note the Ohio cameras are identical to the British and European cameras
"Some 150 people who pleaded guilty to running red lights under now-illegal Minneapolis photo-cop program are asking a court to order that their fines be refunded. Their request is similar to that made by Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge stemming from his arrest in a Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport bathroom. The legal theory behind their request is that authorities shouldn’t be permitted to keep money from a prosecution that later was found unconstitutional. They’ve been offered expungement of the matter from the court records, but also want back fines that ranged as high as $142. The matter is pending in Hennepin County District court. The city earlier this year dismissed about 4,200 citations that had been issued to motorists under photo cop but hadn’t made their way into the court system. The system relied on photos of license plates to fine drivers who ran red lights at selected intersections. Meanwhile, a lawyer is seeking class-action status in a federal civil case that seeks refunds for thousands for those who paid their fines."
-Steve Brandt, Star Tribune, Motorists who paid photo-cop fines want money back, September 10, 2007
"Cleveland, Ohio has been using mobile speed cameras in violation of its own city ordinance. A hearing officer on Wednesday dismissed a pair of automated speeding tickets issued to Mike Besser after the South Euclid motorist presented evidence that the city never issued the required press release announcing its mobile cameras. "The Director of Public Safety shall cause the general public to be notified by means of a press release issued at least thirty days before any given camera is made fully-operational and is used to issue tickets to offenders," Cleveland Ordinance 413.031 states. "Before a given camera issues actual tickets, there shall be a period of at least two weeks, which may run concurrently with the 30-day public-notice period, during which only 'warning' notices shall be issued." Although the city issued a press release announcing the location of stationary cameras on October 14, 2005, it never provided a release notifying the public about its mobile speed cameras. In 2006, Cleveland raised $6 million in revenue from 85,861 automated tickets. Of this amount, $1.5 million came from mobile cameras. In 2005, the California Supreme Court upheld a ruling that found red light camera tickets issued from an unannounced camera had to be refunded."
—TheNewspaper.com, Cleveland, Ohio Issued Illegal Speed Camera Tickets - Cleveland, Ohio may be forced to refund millions in illegally collected mobile speed camera tickets, 8/17/2007
"Cleveland may have wrongfully issued thousands of tickets for traffic violations caught on mobile cameras because the city failed to follow its rules for using them. When Cleveland started using the cameras in 2005 to catch speeders, City Council required the director of public safety to notify the public by press release at least 30 days before a traffic camera was used. Mike Besser of South Euclid said he presented a hearing officer at the Justice Center with the city's ordinance and a copy of an e-mail from the Law Department that stated the city never sent out a release for its use of mobile cameras. Both of his speeding violations were dismissed Wednesday. His case raises questions about the thousands of tickets issued since the city began using mobile cameras. "These cameras are supposed to be used for public safety, not as money grabbers," Councilman Mike Polensek said. "I would question the people administering it. What were they thinking? How much would it take to send out a press release -- my guess is someone doing their job." Last year traffic cameras -- both fixed and mobile -- generated nearly $6 million for Cleveland. Of the 85, 861 tickets issued in 2006, about 25 percent were violations caught by mobile cameras. About $1.5 million of the money came by way of mobile cameras. Andrea Taylor, a spokeswoman for Mayor Frank Jackson, said Thursday she knew nothing about Besser's case and that the city ordinance only required that the mobile units be placed in clearly marked police cars. She added that she does not think the ruling in Besser's case will affect closed cases. It may affect pending cases if the appropriate court rules the city is at fault, she said. The public was notified by press release Oct. 14, 2005, that the city would start using stationary cameras. There are currently 42 stationary cameras at various intersections and six mobile ones in police patrol vehicles."
—Leah Boyd, The Plain Dealer, Got a speeding ticket in Cleveland? Mobile traffic camera may violate law, August 16, 2007
"The speed camera programme has been thrown into disarray after the Government admitted its casualty calculations could be flawed. The Department for Transport (DfT) justifies the use of more than 6,000 cameras across the country on the grounds that they cut road deaths and serious injuries. But now these figures have been called into question and critics say this could undermine the entire programme, which brings in more than £100 million in fines every year. In what speed camera critics are describing as an embarrassing about-turn, the DfT is to re-evaluate the way it works out the number of serious injuries reported on the roads. It had relied on the figures gathered by police rather than hospital admissions but the discrepancy between the two has forced officials to look again. According to the police, the number of serious injuries between 1996 and 2004 fell from 79.7 per 100,000 to 54. The corresponding figures from hospitals showed a rise from 88.8 to 90.1."
—David Millward, London Telegraph, Justification for speed cameras 'flawed', 17/09/2007
A council has slashed its funding for speed cameras after claiming they had become more about making money than saving lives. North Somerset Council has cut a third of its £300,000 contribution to the West of England Road Safety Partnership, after complaining the group had lost sight of its original purpose. It also blamed the Government for taking money generated by fines to swell central coffers, rather than ploughing it back into local safety schemes. Councillors now want to spend their budget on other road projects, and have even threatened to cut all funding for speed cameras. Speed cameras have been repeatedly attacked in the area by angry drivers. The partnership admitted earlier this year it had even installed CCTV to spy on a speed camera, after it was twice targeted by vandals."
—London Daily Mail, Council cuts speed camera budget because they are now 'more about making money than saving lives', 29 September 2007
Australian Redflex Corporation photo radar vans will illegally patrol Arizona freeways robbing US citizens and replace government police officers and government courts beginning in November 2007
"Arizona Department of Public Safety officials inked a deal with an Australian manufacturer of automated ticketing machines to begin a statewide freeway photo radar program by November. The state will allow Redflex to run a pair of speed camera vans on freeways and two-lane roads anywhere in the state where they might generate significant revenue. The cameras are merely the first installment in a more comprehensive plan by Governor Janet Napolitano (D) to set up permanent speed cameras on every major freeway in the state. Napolitano was inspired by the success of the Loop 101 photo radar program in Scottsdale, Arizona. Just six cameras there generated 110,962 tickets worth $17 million in 2006. A study documented a 54 percent increase in rear-end collisions and a 9 percent increase in injuries from rear-end collisions as a result of the cameras' use. Although Redflex initially ran the Scottsdale program, it has since lost the contract to rival vendor ATS. Nonetheless, Redflex is experiencing sharp demand for its revenue producing technology in states like Texas. Record profits allowed Redflex to announce its first-ever dividend to investors holding company shares on the Australian Stock Exchange to be paid November 2."
—TheNewspaper.com, Arizona: Statewide Freeway Speed Camera Program Contract Signed
- Two photo radar vans will patrol Arizona freeways statewide beginning in November, 9/3/2007
"Arizona motorists who ignore speed limits could soon be getting pictures of themselves in the mail — along with a nasty financial surprise. The state Department of Public Safety has signed a contract with a Scottsdale firm to put two roving "photo radar" vans on state roads. DPS Lt. Bob Ticer said the vans will be operational within 60 days. DPS commanders will place the units not only along freeways but also on various two-lane roads throughout the state, he said. The contract with Redflex Traffic Systems comes seven months after Gov. Janet Napolitano directed DPS to begin using photo radar to enforce the state's speeding laws. Napolitano said she was convinced by a nine-month project along the 101 freeway — operated by Redflex for the city of Scottsdale — that photo-radar cameras cut how fast motorists were driving. Several legislators subsequently attempted to block photo radar on state roads until the plan could be reviewed by voters but were unable to gain the necessary votes for approval. But this contract is different in one key respect: Ticer said Redflex will get a flat $3,940 a month for each of the vans. By contrast, most of the other contracts that cities have negotiated, including the one Redflex had with Scottsdale, give the company a share of each citation paid. Ticer said the goal is not to raise money, either for the state or the contractor. One issue still to be decided is exactly when a citation will be issued. Individual police officers have discretion when to stop a vehicle or write a ticket. But a private company that only takes photos of speeding vehicles does not. The photo-radar cameras used in the Loop 101 experiment were set to catch motorists whose speed was at least 11 miles per hour over the posted limit. Ticer said there are advantages to having speed limits enforced by a private company. "Officers will be able to focus on violations in that particular area other than speed," Ticer said. "They can be looking at the impaired driver or the reckless driver, and the folks following too close or making unsafe lane changes," he continued. "We look at this as just another tool to assist us in traffic enforcement to reduce those crashes."
—Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services, 2 radar vans to roam state roads - DPS contract will pave the way for photo enforcement, 09.01.2007
"That is actually an interesting question. That argument has been made in a court where I am, uh, my thought on that is, it is yet to happen, but some enterprising lawyer could come along and raise that question. It would probably require probably some sort of expert testimony. I'm not advocating that. That case has yet to happen."
—Judge John Rosson, WNOX 100.3, State Your Case, January 28, 2007; Affidavit of John Lee filed in U.S. District Court to stop Rosson tampering with the federal jury pool in case 3:06-CV-v400
John Lee vs Robocop City Council - "According to attorneys, prosecutors, judges and members of Congress, these new ordinances by City Council are dangerous, illegal, will be overturned on appeal, will result in class action lawsuits, and can subject city employees to criminal prosecution. I urge Council to vote against this ordinance. Or, in the alternative, I propose my own amendment to the ordinance, and for Council to delay this vote until a Tennessee Attorney General Opinion can be written on this issue." February 1, 2005
"A federal grand jury yesterday indicted the mayor of St. Peters, Missouri for soliciting bribes from Redflex, an Australian red light camera vendor seeking to land a lucrative contract. According to the indictment, Mayor Shawn Brown, 34, told Redflex in early June that he would veto an ordinance establishing red light cameras unless the company handed him cash. Redflex quickly made out a check to Brown for $2750 and on June 16, 2006 Brown signed the ordinance into law. Redflex then called the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Shawn Brown, being an agent and employee of the City of St. Peters, did knowingly and corruptly solicit, demand accept and agree to accept something of value, to wit: a payment of $2,750 from Redflex, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with business and a transaction of the City of St. Peters involving an ordinance and a contract having a value of $5,000 or more to the city of St. Peters and Redflex," the indictment stated. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri filed the charge which carries a possible $250,000 fine and a ten year prison sentence. Redflex competitor Affiliated Computer Services is currently on trial in Edmonton, Canada for a similar offer of a bribe to police officers to land a lucrative photo enforcement contract."
-TheNewspaper.com, Mayor Indicted for Taking Red Light Camera Bribe, 8/18/2006
"At all times material to this indictment, Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc. ("Redflex") is a division of an Australian holding company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona that provides digital red light and speeding enforcement systems to local governments across the United States. Between or about June 8, 2006 and June 15, 2006, Shawn Brown communicated to the agent of Redflex responsible for the company's relationship with the City of St. Peters that he would veto the ordinance authorizing the city to contract with Redflex unless a payment was made to him. The agent of Redflex agreed to make the payment Brown demanded. Shawn Brown signed ordinance 06-70 on June 16, 2006. The next week, a Redflex check in the amount of $2,750 made out to Shawn Brown was delivered to Shawn Brown's home, per his instructions, in the City of St. Peters. On or about the 15th day of June, 2006, in the Eastern District of Missouri, the defendant, Shawn Brown, being an agent and employee of the City of St. Peters, did knowingly and corruptly solicit, demand accept and agree to accept something of value, to wit: a payment of $2,750 from Redflex, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with business and a transaction of the City of St. Peters involving an ordinance and a contract having a value of $5,000 or more to the city of St. Peters and Redflex. In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 666(a)(1)(B)."
-Thomas C. Albus, Assistant United States Attorney, United States of America v. Shawn Brown, United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division, Case Number 4:06CR00506HEA
Treasonous career criminal US Attorney General Alberto "I Love Torture" Gonzales proposes new crime for PNTV: 'Attempted' copyright infringement with life in prison - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pressing the U.S. Congress to enact a sweeping intellectual-property bill that would increase criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including "attempts" to commit piracy. The Bush administration is throwing its support behind a proposal called the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007, which is likely to receive the enthusiastic support of the movie and music industries, and would represent the most dramatic rewrite of copyright law since a 2005 measure dealing with prerelease piracy. Federal law currently punishes not-for-profit copyright infringement with between 1 and 10 years in prison, but there has to be actual infringement that takes place. The IPPA would eliminate that requirement. Wiretaps would be authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights. Property such as a PC "intended to be used in any manner" to commit a copyright crime would be subject to forfeiture, including civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture has become popular among police agencies in drug cases as a way to gain additional revenue, and it is problematic and controversial. Criminal violations are currently punished by jail times of up to 10 years and fines of up to $1 million. The IPPA would add forfeiture penalties. Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America. That would happen when CDs with "unauthorized fixations of the sounds, or sounds and images, of a live musical performance" are attempted to be imported. Neither the Motion Picture Association of America nor the Business Software Alliance (nor any other copyright holder, such as photographers, playwrights or news organizations, for that matter) would qualify for this kind of special treatment (a violation of Constitutional Equal Protection doctrine under the 14th Amendment).
"Redflex Group is based in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Redflex Holdings Limited was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in January 1997."
-Redflex.com.AU
"You want to send $1-million a year of our tax money to fucking Australia!"
—John Lee, Pirate News TV, WNOX 100.3 FM, "State Your Case" with George Korda, time 00:16:20 on January 28, 2007 ($100,000 FCC fine for WNOX? Screenshot of PNTV's FCC Obscenity Complaint log vs WNOX -- Note that this is an excellent way to kill all Neo Con radio shows and stations in every town! Just call in and say the F-word then file an FCC complaint!)
DEATH PENALTY for Clear Channel buying 700 billboards in Lost Angeles to sell Civil War TREASON
"You mean Redflex is located in Australia? I didn't know that. 40,000 red-light tickets were issued from May until December 2006. Rear-end crashes INCREASED at intersections with traffic cameras in Knoxville."
—Judge John Rossen, Knoxville Municipal Corporation Court, WNOX 100.3 FM, "State Your Case" with George Korda, January 28, 2007
Complaint Form versus "Judge" John Rosson - File your complaint with the Court of the Judiciary against Rosson for telling lies on WNOX and attempting to tamper with the jury pool in this robocop class action. In case Rosson's legal defense is that he is NOT a "judge", then file a complaint against "John Rosson attorney at law" with the Board of Professional Responsibility at Tennessee Supreme Court, since he still does illegally practice law "part-time" in his private practice while playing "judge" full-time in Knoxville Municipal Corporate Court. PNTV has already filed felony criminal charges against Rosson. In reality, Rosson is merely another employee of the Law Dept at Knoxville Municipal Corporation, as proven when Rosson had to ask permission to file the municipal court administrator Michael Martin, after Martin was subpoenaed by John Lee to testify about the illegal Top Secret court docket of 125,000 annual cases and zero accountability of millions of dollars on court profits, in addition to his confessed theft and extortion of court employees "bonus paychecks", same as KPD and Knox County Sheriff Dept requires from copsters as condition for promotion to Sgt, Lt or Capt.
"Indian Giver Award: City Court Administrator Michael Martin is placed on administrative leave following allegations that after he doled out year-end bonuses to employees last year, he held private meetings with some of them and 'requested' that they share with him."
-MetroPulse, City Beat, February 1, 2001
"Knoxville Court Administrator Michael Martin is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into whether he collected portions of his employees' bonus checks last year. City Law Director Michael Kelley said a City Court employee reported Martin had requested a part of her bonus a year ago. The employee ultimately consented and gave Martin half of her bonus, Kelley said in a letter to Knoxville City Court Judge John Rosson. Other employees also gave portions of their bonuses to Martin, he wrote. The bonuses usually amounted to several hundred dollars per employee. Rosson said he hired Martin two years ago after Martin had been employed about three years by the law department. He is responsible for the daily operation of City Court and its 10 employees. He makes $41,308 annually. The Knoxville Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit is investigating the matter."
-Oak Ridger, Court official may have taken bonus checks, February 6, 2001
"Knoxville Court Adminstrator Michael Martin was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into allegations he collected portions of his employees' bonus checks last year, records show. The allegations surfaced last week and Martin was placed on paid leave Thursday, records show. The Knoxville Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit is conducting a probe into the allegations. Knoxville City Court Judge John Rosson said he placed Martin on administrative leave after being informed of the alleged conduct by city Law Director Michael Kelley. In a Feb. 1 letter to Rosson, Kelley noted he had interviewed a City Court employee who raised the allegation. After years of neglect outlined by an audit of City Court, an interim court administrator has begun to impose order on a court office that was in chaos. Knoxville's City Court has been a rambling wreck with no checks or balances on tickets issued, more than $80,000 in checks, cash and money orders in an unsecured file cabinet, no record of parking tickets and few efforts to collect more than $1 million in unpaid fees. In a filing cabinet called "Roxanne" by employees at City Court lie thousands of dollars paid for traffic and parking offenses that have not been properly logged or deposited in a bank, notes a report on court operations. Knoxville City Court Administrator Michael Martin resigned Monday on the heels of allegations he collected a thousand dollars by pressuring his employees to share their annual bonuses with him. Martin's resignation came just minutes before he was scheduled to meet with City Court Judge John Rosson for a pre-disciplinary hearing. Rosson said he planned to fire Martin, but NOT because of the bonus scheme."
—Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Bonus check splitting alleged" February 6, 2001
"Strictly local municipal courts offer a separate, substandard justice and warrant a
thorough review of their own. At their best, the present-day system of city courts is a convenient
means for disposing of relatively minor matters, close at hand, with less formality than state
courts. They become, in essence, an administrative forum of alternative dispute resolution, with
the right to appeal to the state judicial system. At their worst, they are merely revenue agencies masquerading as courts. Their sole reason for being is the funds that their municipality draws from them. If the funds disappeared,
few of the cities would consider the court an important civic service. Their limits and oversight
are ill-defined, and their flexibility can sometimes disguise mere arbitrariness. Municipal courts are a substantial topic unto themselves. There are some 200 to 300 such courts across the state, operating so independently that even obtaining an exact count is difficult. We believe they fall much closer to the worst model than to the best one. A majority of
complaints about judges that come to the Administrative Office of the Courts originate with municipal courts."
—Report from The Commission on the Future of the Tennessee Judicial System, 1996. See also: Office of Research, Comptroller of the Treasury, Tennessee’s Court System: Is Reform Needed?, 2004
"These robocop traffic tickets are illegal, will be overturned on appeal, will result in an increase in crashes, and will result in class action lawsuits against the City of Knoxville Municipal Corporation."
—John Lee, Pirate News TV, speaking to Knoxville City Council on CTV, November 2005
"Have you received a traffic ticket from one of Knoxville's red light cameras? If so, we would like to talk with you. 10News reporter Stoney Sharp is working on a story about the controversial cameras. Give him a call in the WBIR newswroom at 637-1010 or e-mail him at ssharp@wbir.gannett.com if you would be willing to share your experience."
-Katie Allison Granju, WBIR TV, "TELL US YOUR STORY: Have you been ticketed by a red light camera?" 14 March 2007 (75 comments)
"State legislators are questioning Knoxville’s practice of using an automated camera system to ticket people alleged to have run a red light. The discussion centers around a bill introduced by Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, that would impact Knoxville’s red light camera system in two ways. First, the bill mandates that the yellow, or caution, light be set at 5 seconds at all intersections where cameras are set up to photograph motorists. McCord said he has heard reports that the yellow lights on Knoxville’s monitored intersections are set at 3 seconds to boost ticket revenue. Another portion of the bill would forbid local governments from contracting with private companies to operate red light camera systems. Knoxville contracts with Redflex Inc. to operate its system. Figures from the Knoxville Police Department, read Tuesday to a House subcommittee by McCord, indicate that Redflex got $471,122 from its contract during 2006, while the city of Knoxville got $217,980. More than 21,000 tickets were issued as a result of the cameras during the year. House Transportation Committee Chairman Phillip Pinion, D-Union City, questioned whether it’s even legal for a city to 'privatize its police power' without a specific authorization bill being approved by the Legislature. 'Who authorized Knoxville to privatize their red lights?' asked Pinion. 'Before long, we won’t need police. We’ll just privatize all of them, too.' The bill was discussed during a subcommittee meeting, but McCord delayed a vote by the panel next week. Tony Thompson, who serves as lobbyist for the city of Knoxville, told Pinion he would have answers to questions about the city system by then."
-Tom Humphrey, Knoxville News Sentinel, "City defends Knoxville’s red-light cameras", 14 March 2007 (KNS censors the robocop class action lawsuit filed in Knoxville, and censors the fact that Redflex is located in AUSTRALIA)
WATE "YOU'LL PAY ANY TAX INCREASE I TELL YOU TO PAY" TV loves Robocops - Tennessee state representative Joe "Ton Ten" McCord in Blount County writes bill to ban Robocop scameras from shortening yellow-light timing, and to ban private corporations from profiting from robocops. WATE censors the robocop class action lawsuit filed in Knoxville, and censors the fact that Redflex is located in AUSTRALIA. 14 March 2007
(a) If a surveillance camera is installed to enforce or monitor moving traffic
violations at an intersection which is controlled by a traffic-control signal pursuant to §
55-8-110, the yellow or caution light on such traffic-control signal shall be set to remain
yellow before turning red at least five (5) seconds. Any traffic citation issued for a
moving traffic violation at a traffic-control signal where the yellow light has been set to
change to red prior to such five (5) second requirement is invalid.
(b) After the effective date of this act, no contract shall be entered into,
amended, revised or extended by any local government for the installation of such
surveillance cameras which shares the revenues from the traffic fines with the company
installing or maintaining such cameras.
This act shall take effect July 1, 2007, the public welfare requiring it.
-Tennessee legislature, HOUSE BILL 698 (by Rep Joe McCord) -- SENATE BILL 666 (by Senator Tim Burchett), February 8, 2007
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE BY JOHN LEE - "Traffic lights shall display a constant amber phase of 5.50 seconds, 6 sec on extra wide cross-streets." Knoxville City Council, February 1, 2005
"Legislation imposing restrictions on the use of cameras to ticket motorists running red lights was killed by a House subcommittee Tuesday after debate between Knoxville's police chief and the bill's sponsor. Chief Sterling Owen IV told the Public Safety subcommittee of the House Transportation Committee that Knoxville's red-light cameras have reduced accidents significantly. But when questioned by Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, sponsor of the bill, Owen acknowledged that at least one study indicates that a longer yellow signal reduces the number of motorists running the light. McCord said a Texas study shows that adding one second to the yellow light time reduced tickets for running red lights by 53 percent and accidents by 40 percent. Owen, while saying he did not know of that specific study, knew of a case were red-light violations were reduced by around 36 percent with increased yellow time. One part of McCord's bill would require that, if cameras are present, the yellow-light time must be at least five seconds. Current state law requires a minimum of three seconds, a maximum of six seconds. The chief said timing of the light sequence "is a traffic engineering question, not a police question." He said the city was not necessarily opposed to increasing yellow light time, especially if that can be shown to have a positive effect in reducing accidents. McCord also questioned whether rear-end crashes increase at camera-monitored intersections.
Only a single case has been found in Knoxville where a motorist "slamming the brakes" to avoid a red light ticket caused a crash, the chief said. Owen also said that, contrary to an earlier assertion by McCord, the state of Virginia is using red light cameras again, though it had once forbidden the devices. Owen said the city has no plans to begin using the cameras to catch speeders. The subcommittee session also included moves by several legislators to exempt their home counties from coverage by McCord's bill. Rep. Ben West, D-Nashville, proposed first that Davidson County be exempt. After the Nashville amendment was adopted, West then proposed to exempt Knox County from coverage by the bill - over objections from McCord that the law needs to be consistent statewide. "We don't have anybody on this committee from Knoxville and they need to be protected," West said. There were loud shouts of both "aye" and "no" when the voice vote came on the Knoxville exemption. Rep. George Fraley, D-Winchester, who chairs the subcommittee, ruled the "ayes" prevailed, meaning Knoxville red light cameras would not have been affected even if the bill had passed. Tony Thompson, lobbyist for the city of Knoxville, said later that he requested West file the amendment. The final vote saw four legislators voting yes, five no. That effectively kills the bill for this year. The debate also included some light-hearted moments. McCord eyed Owen and two other armed Knoxville officers and quipped, "I don't want people with guns, cameras and badges angry with me."
-Tom Humphrey, Knoxville News Sentinel, "Bill restricting red-light cameras killed," March 21, 2007
John Lee vs Robocop City Council - "According to attorneys, prosecutors, judges and members of Congress, these new ordinances by City Council are dangerous, illegal, will be overturned on appeal, will result in class action lawsuits, and can subject city employees to criminal prosecution. I urge Council to vote against this ordinance. Or, in the alternative, I propose my own amendment to the ordinance, and for Council to delay this vote until a Tennessee Attorney General Opinion can be written on this issue." February 1, 2005
John Lee vs Robocop City Council - "On February 1st, City Council voted to raise millions of dollars in taxes with Robocop Spy Cameras. Traffic citations will be mailed to vehicle owners, with no attempt to identify the driver. This police and court function will be outsourced to a private contractor, perhaps outside of Tennessee. 125,000 annual “misdemeanor citations” are not enough profit for KPD, so government jobs will be outsourced, perhaps to a foreign nation like the IRS now does. Council alleges the Constitutions do not apply, since traffic citations are civil actions, not criminal prosecutions. But all civil trials require plaintiffs appear in court to testify, or the complaint must be dismissed for “failure to prosecute”. City Council is of the opinion that it can break the law with sovereign immunity. I remind Council that there are many exceptions to sovereign immunity, both civil and criminal. Any person sued by Robocops can countersue the City of Knoxville Corporation and its officers and agents, as allowed in all civil lawsuits under TRCP Rule 13, for all appeals from City Court. According to Tennessee attorney Ed Fowlkes, private contractors mailing out traffic citations can be a criminal offense under Tennessee Code, of Unauthorized Practice of Law. US Congressman "Dick" Armey wrote in his report titled, “Red Light Camera Scam”, that simply increasing the time delay of yellow lights can reduce crashes by 95 percent, for free, but that Red Light Cameras increase crashes by 50 percent. As this Council confessed, the Virginia Study proved that Red Light Cameras are guaranteed to increase the number of crashes, injuries and deaths. Robocop Red Light Cameras will result in a boycott of Knoxville businesses, by scaring away shoppers. Knoxville already named Interstate Highway I-140 for a convicted hit and run killer named Senator Carl Koella, that resulted in millions of tourists boycotting Knoxville and Tennessee in protest. Robocop Spy Cameras follow the 6th Plank of the Communist Manifesto (quote): "Centralization of the means of communications and transportation in the hands of the State." US Congressman Ron Paul called traffic citations and spy cameras the backbone of the “American Police State”. Austin Texas now has Robocop GPS toll roads on many downtown streets, costing residents $1,500 a year “wheel tax”. This resulted in massive revolt to recall all members of Austin City Council. I ask Council to repeal this Robocop ordinance. February 15, 2005
"Knoxville's red light cameras began snapping photos of drivers who break the law six months ago. But do they really help put the brakes on accidents? Officers have only seen one rear end crash caused due to a red light camera. The cameras are already installed at 10 of the city's most dangerous intersections. And there are at least five more cameras to come, with $50 tickets for those who run the light. But some drivers tell 6 News they have issues with the cameras. "I thought I was supposed to get a warning first," Betty Pierce says. "First time through, I thought they'd give you warning." "I think it's annoying, the glare, especially on dark day, brightness like a camera flash," James Needham says.
Thanks to that quick flash, Knoxville police have cited more than 22,000 drivers putting the pedal to the metal when the as light turns red. The city's newest red light camera is at the intersection of Clinton Hwy. and Merchants Drive. In two months, cameras have caught more than 4000 people running red lights. Police say that breaks down to an average of 75 people breaking the law there each day. The city has collected more than $120,000 in revenue from the citations in six months.
The Knoxville Police Department says the city didn't pay for the cameras or their installation. The city also doesn't pay for the camera's upkeep. A company called Redflex pays for everything. In turn, it gets half the money from each citation issued.
In the last six months, 11 Knoxville police officers, 12 Knox County deputies, nine Rural/Metro ambulances and 20 KAT buses were caught running red lights. Police say none of the vehicles were responding to emergencies. The drivers were cited and had to pay the $50 fine."
-Sonu Wasu. WATE TV, "It's time to tear down the redlight cameras!" November 28, 2006 (7 pages of comments)
"Knoxville, Tennessee City Court Judge John Rosson on Wednesday acquitted an innocent man accused of running a red light by the city's new automated ticket system. Robbie Parton, 40, lost $160 in wages to fight the $50 citation he received on June 8 and became the first motorist to challenge a ticket successfully. 'We're innocent, but I've lost a day of pay for today when they were at fault,' Parton told the Knoxville News. Others are discouraged by the high cost of fighting a ticket. Those who exercise their constitutional rights face a doubling of the cost of a ticket to $117.50 if they are unable to prove their own innocence in court. Parton took the risk with a simple defense -- his car is gold, but the ticket shows a red car. Judge Rosson noted after a cursory glance at the photo that the license plate on Parton's car ends in 'M' but the photograph shows a car with a license plate ending in 'K'. Despite the obvious error, Knoxville Police Department officials maintain that a police officer personally verifies every single citation submitted by Australian camera vendor Redflex. The camera system has mailed out 11,785 tickets worth $589,250 in revenue as of August 1."
-WATE Forum, "It's time to tear down the redlight cameras!" November 3, 2006
"I sure learned a lot today."
—Judge John Rosson, City of Knoxville vs John Lee (John Lee and PNTV won - Rosson then fired his court administrator for keeping a Top Secret court docket of 125,000 annual tickets in a city of 160,000 people, but theft and extortion of court employees paychecks was okay; over 100 criminals employed or contracted with city "govt" were fired as a result of John Lee filing felony criminal charges against Mayor Victor Ashe, Judge John Rosson and KPD chief Phil Keith, et al)
"An officer who arrested a man for cursing in a public meeting violated the man's right to free speech, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's decision that Montrose Township police officer Stephen Robinson had probable cause to arrest Thomas Leonard in 2002 when Leonard cursed while addressing the township board. 'It cannot be seriously contended that any reasonable peace officer, or citizen, for that matter, would believe that mild profanity while peacefully advocating a political position could constitute a criminal act,' the three-judge panel wrote in Friday's decision. 'All our client did was get up at a public meeting and express himself vigorously, and he was arrested for it,' said Glen Lenhoff, Leonard's attorney. At the time, Leonard's wife, Sarah, was suing the township over a towing contract. Thomas Leonard accused the board members in the meeting of cheating his family and saying, 'That's why you're in a goddamn lawsuit.' Robinson arrested Leonard, charging him with disorderly conduct and using obscene language. He was held in jail for an hour, and the charges were dismissed a month later. Leonard sued in 2003, claiming the arrest violated his Fourth Amendment right to freedom from unreasonable seizure and, in a later motion, his First Amendment right to free speech. He sought at least $25,000 in damages. Ralph Chapa, a partner in the law firm representing Robinson, said his firm is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A U.S. District Court judge dropped the charges against Robinson in 2005, agreeing with the officer that he had probable cause to arrest Leonard. The case will go back to the lower court, pending further appeals."
—CNN, Court Order: Irate citizens can cuss city councils, and sue them, February 3, 2007
Bill of Rights - Music video by Ryan Sullivan and Tax Slave Records
A Visitor from the Past - I had a dream the other night, I didn't understand.
A figure walking through the mist, with flintlock in his hand.
His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by the bed,
He took off his three-cornered hat, and speaking low, he said:
"We fought a revolution, to secure our liberty.
We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny,
For future generations, this legacy we gave,
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you'd always keep.
But tyrants labored endlessly, while your parents were asleep.
Your freedom gone, your courage lost, you're no more than a slave,
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun,
Permits to start a business, or to build a place for one.
On land that you believe you own, you pay a yearly rent,
Although you have no voice in choosing how the money's spent."
Spoken word music by Thelen Paulk
"The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration has funded an expensive pay-as-you-drive research, development, and evaluation project with the thought to implementing such a program in the not-too-distant future. One can almost hear the lip smacking and see the gleeful hand rubbing of the powers-that-be at the DOT as they mentally calculate how much more in revenue they can bring in with this newly developed GPS and computer-based charge system. The DOT says the motor fuel tax presently generates upwards of $74 billion annually — apparently not enough to feed the ever-growing government appetite for other people’s money. But with about 250,000,000 registered vehicles on the road today that average 15,000 miles per year, the sky’s the limit as to what they could bring in. Responsible for the equipment that is necessary for mileage tracking are researchers at the University of Iowa Public Policy Center working in Part I of a major study funded by a consortium of federal and state transportation departments. They have developed a basic receiver that would be installed in every vehicle. This on-board equipment would, through GPS, determine the vehicle’s position while continuously applying the per-mile charge rate to the miles being traveled through various jurisdictions (counties and states), and store the data in a file. Then monthly, the vehicle would use cellular technology to upload the stored data to a billing dispersal center. The center would then bill the vehicle owner and apportion the revenue out to the various jurisdictions that were traveled through, with payment being made electronically (they’re taking no chances) through either credit or debit cards. Part II is the national evaluation portion that includes refining all aspects of this newest approach to taxation. Funded at $16.5 million filched from the taxpayers, the field-testing is presently being carried out in six states for two years time. Along with the field-testing will be a study of user acceptability and reaction. In other words they already know they’re going to need a pretty good marketing approach to present this newest intrusion on the liberties and privacy of the American public whilst keeping said public quiet and unsuspecting — and compliant. (You know they’ll have to pass laws with heavy fines to keep vehicle owners from tampering with or just plain ripping out the darn things.) Remember now, this comes from the same federal government who brought you warrantless wiretapping, illegal information gathering, a no-fly list, rendition and torture, so do you really want this equipment in your car?"
—JBS, Mileage-Based Road User Charges Coming Soon? October 1, 2007
"A person traveling in an automobile on public thoroughfares has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements from one place to another.” United States v. Knotts, 460 U.S. 276 (1983). The use of the GPS Device did not permit the discovery of any information that could not have obtained by following an automobile traveling on public roads, either physically or through visual surveillance (e.g. through the use of cameras or from a helicopter), conduct that neither requires a warrant nor implicates Fourth Amendment rights. “Nothing in the Fourth Amendment prohibit[s] the police from augmenting the sensory faculties bestowed upon them at birth with such enhancement as science and technology afford[s] them.” Id. at 282."
—Morton v. Nassau County Police Dep't , 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87559 (E.D.N.Y., November 27, 2007), Court Allows Unlimited Police Power to Plant GPS on Vehicles, December 2, 2007
Robocop scams Hollywood filmmaker, sparks movie about Spycams - So you're driving in your car one day, minding your own business and making a goofy face while singing to a song on the radio. No doubt you're thinking, "It's a good thing no one can see me right now." A week later an envelope arrives in the mail from your city's traffic division, with a photo capturing that goofy singing expression plastered on your face as you obliviously glided through a red light. That's the experience that prompted writer-director Adam Rifkin to make his new film "Look," which focuses on people's lives as captured through the eyes of surveillance cameras and the things they do when they think no one is watching them. The film won the Grand Jury prize at CineVegas Film Festival earlier this year and will be out in limited release in theaters in December. Add your own spycam clips at Look-TheMovie.com
How to kill Robocops - FOR REAL
by John Lee
Pirate News TV
KNOXVILLE TENNESSEE - De facto private tolls roads given away to international organized crime syndicate!
It's easy to crush this Robocop Spy Cam Scam, and this video will prove how to do it. Sure, it's fun to shoot the bastards with BB guns, spray paint the camera lens, or just plain smash them to pieces, as SuperBike magazine offered prizes for these pro se complaints. But the Media Mafia censors the best, most effective, and the only legal methods of defeating the robocopsters - simply throw the traffic citations in the trash and ignore them, since they lack "service of process", as required for all civil lawsuits. Pirate News producer John Lee lectures City of Knoxville Municipal Corporation, City Council and KPD on its racketeering and organized crimes, before its vote on a new ordinance in November 2005. This law lecture applies in every jurisdiction. Lee sued Knoxville and its Skull & Boner mayor Victor "Victoria" Ashe and his mafia terrorist towing contractors in 2 class actions, and filed criminal charges against them for felony car thefts, resulting in over 100 police employees fired for fraud, and City Court clerk fired for embezzlement, theft and extortion. Although City Council ignored the law and spit in the face of traffic safety, by passing its illegal ordinance in February, it 2 votes in November are for award of its TOP SECRET contract to export KPD jobs to the out-of-state Military Industrial Complex. It doesn't matter - just throw all those robocop citations in the trash and ignore them, advised Chattanooga lawyer Jes Beard, since they lack proper service of process, just like "parking tickets". Kick the gangster out of Gangsta Government. As seen on CTV.
"It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that. What the legal system wants you to do is just send in the fine and not ask any questions. This can be a big money maker for some communities. One other form of defense to utilize on your behalf is the fact that when you are accused in court you must be faced by your accuser. Obviously the computer cannot appear in court as a defense method for the prosecution. Also, you do not have to identify yourself as the driver of the vehicle because it would violate your sixth amendment rights against self incrimination."
-Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, and Jes Beard, attorney at law in Chattanooga, Tennessee, JesBeard.com, "How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR"
Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure.
Rule 4, Service of Process.
(10) Service by mail of a summons and complaint upon a defendant may be made by the plaintiff, the plaintiff's attorney or by any person authorized by statute. After the complaint is filed, the clerk shall, upon request, furnish the original summons, a certified copy thereof and a copy of the filed complaint to the plaintiff, the plaintiff's attorney or other authorized person for service by mail. Such person shall send, postage prepaid, a certified copy of the summons and a copy of the complaint by registered return receipt or certified return receipt mail to the defendant. If the defendant to be served is an individual or entity covered by subparagraph (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), or (9) of this rule, the return receipt mail shall be addressed to an individual specified in the applicable subparagraph. The original summons shall be used for return of service of process pursuant to Rule 4.03(2). Service by mail shall not be the basis for the entry of a judgment by default unless the record contains a return receipt showing personal acceptance by the defendant or by persons designated by Rule 4.04 or statute. If service by mail is unsuccessful, it may be tried again or other methods authorized by these rules or by statute may be used.
Tennessee Rules of Evidence.
Rule 602. Lack of personal knowledge.
A witness may not testify to a matter unless evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter. Evidence to prove personal knowledge may, but need not, consist of the witness's own testimony.
Advisory Commission Comments. Basic to relevancy concepts is that a witness must know about the subject matter of testimony. This is the familiar requirement of first-hand knowledge.
Tennessee Rules of Evidence.
Rule 803. Hearsay exceptions.
(6) Records of Regularly Conducted Activity.
Advisory Commission Comments. Police reports of traffic accidents are inadmissible under T.C.A. § 55-10-114(b) and T.R.Evid. 803(8).
18 US Code § 2381. Treason.
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
"'Enterprise' means any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, business trust, union chartered under the laws of this state, or other legal entity, or any unchartered union, association or group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity, and it includes illicit as well as licit enterprises, AND GOVERNMENTAL, as well as other, entities."
—Tennessee Code 39-12-203, Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations RICO Act
Making a Federal Case
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - "A lawsuit has been filed in federal court to force the city of Knoxville to cancel its contract and end the red light camera program. Attorney David Hamilton filed the suit on behalf of client Judy Williams who was ticketed and faced a $50 fine and a fee of $67.50 to have a hearing. Instead, the suit was filed. The suit, which references Orwellian procedures, Star Chamber proceedings and the movie Demolition Man, accuses the city of trying to obtain more funds for the city 'with trappings of civil procedures.' The suit names the arresting officer, unknown persons who mailed the citation, the city and Redflex, the company that administers the cameras at intersections to record motorists running red lights. The 21-page suit alleges the city presumes guilt without trial and opportunity to be heard and asks that the contract with Redflex be canceled, the program ended and the funds returned to motorists."
-Metro Pulse, Ear to the Ground, October ??, 2006
"I took a time-coded video of the intersection and the yellow arrow lasts for about 3 seconds. because drivers think the yellow arrow will last longer, there are significant numbers of vehicles entering the intersection after the light turns red. and then, occcasionally, it doesn't turn red, it turns green, so it in effect educates drivers (randomly) that it's ok to enter the intersection on a yellow arrow. great system for making money ..."
-Michael Kaplan, KnoxViews.com, "How Redflex Works", 2006/06/26
- NOTE THAT THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF "TRAFFIC COURT" IN TENNESSEE, BOTH "CIVIL" AND "CRIMINAL". EVERY STATE LAW IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, THOUGH ALL STATES MUST OBEY US CONSTITUTION AND UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE AS CODIFIED INTO EACH STATE'S STATUTES. ALL COURTS ILLEGALLY CLAIM IN ITS LOCAL RULES THAT IT IS A "CRIMINAL COURT" AND DEMAND DEFENDANTS "PLEAD GUILTY" OR "NOT GUILTY", WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE IN CIVIL COURTS UNDER CIVIL RULES OF PROCEDURE ("FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION" IS A CRIME PERPETRATED BY "JUDGES" IN TRAFFIC COURTS). ONLY "TENNESSEE CIVIL RULES OF PROCEDURE" ARE ALLOWED ON APPEAL FROM KNOXVILLE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION COURT TO KNOX COUNTY STATE CIRCUIT COURT. KNOXVILLE CITY COURT CANNOT HANDLE ANY CRIMINAL CASES BECAUSE "JUDGE" JOHN ROSSON WAS APPONTED BY A MAYOR AND CAN BE FIRED BY CITY COUNCIL, AND IS NOT ELECTED TO 8 YEAR TERMS AS REQUIRED BY TENNESSEE CONSTITUTION FOR CRIMINAL JUDGES, SO ROSSON IS EMPLOYED BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH NOT THE JUDICIAL BRANCH, SO HE IS NOT A JUDGE UNDER TENNESSEE LAW. ONLY KNOX COUNTY GENERAL SESSIONS COURT CAN HANDLE CRIMINAL CASES (ARRESTS), AND USE MOSTLY "TENNESSEE RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE", THOUGH DRIVER LICENSES, VEHICLE REGISTRATIONS AND "MISDEMEANOR CITATIONS" ARE CIVIL CONTRACTS THAT ARE VOID DUE TO DURESS, THUS DENYING THE COURT "PERSONAL JURISDICTION" AND "SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION". MAXIM OF LAW: THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW THEIR RIGHTS, AND THOSE WHO DON'T ASSERT THEIR RIGHTS IN COURT IN A TIMELY FASHION, HAVE "VOLUNTARILY AND KNOWINGLY" WAIVERED THEIR RIGHTS. SUCKERS!
Pastor Rick Strawcutter preaches How Any Idiot Can Beat A RADAR Speeding Ticket - What you might need to know to survive Satan's Little Hellpers. Does your church sermon include the fact that Driver Licenses and Traffic Citations are civil contracts signed against your free will which renders them void for duress? If not, you might want to fire your Govt-owned state religion 501c3 IRS whorehouse
Warning to copsters heading to Deals Gap Dragon - Caught on disk: Blount County Sheriff deputy Josh Antros' time-stamped in-car video with GPS speed recording proves at least 5 criminal misdemeanors within 60 seconds - (1) driving at night with lights off; (2) running a stop sign; (3) speeding 61mph in a 30mph residential/school zone; (4) reckless driving at 31mph above the posted speed limit; (5) crossing a double yellow line around a blind curve signposted as "dangerous curve". Video does not show defendant's alleged "crime" (alleged breach of voluntary civil driver license contract). CASE DISMISSED with COURT COSTS PAID BY THE STATE. Blount County general sessions court held a CRIMINAL Preliminary Examination (probable cause hearing) instead of a CIVIL Bench Trial, then bound the case over to the Grand Jury. Defendant had demanded a Jury Trial. Constitutional Equal Protection doctrine requires citzens to get all the same rights as govt employees, without fear of prosecution, including the right to speed. Since BCSD and Blount County district attorney general refused to prosecute Antros for his 5 confessed crimes, this means the DA cannot prosecute ANYBODY in Blount County for those same "crimes" - including the Dragon. Requires DICV Video Player download: unzip file and double-click on dicvviewer.exe then open AVD video "Backup File".
Tortured by Copsters in USA - Full-length hidden audiotape of Lester Eugene Siler tortured by Cambell County Sheriff deputies in his home in East Tennessee. Deliverance on steroids as Cambell County Sheriff Dept gets fucked up the ass. What's so funny is how the average sheeple caves in at the tiniest hint of pressure, and signs a driver license slave contract, vehicle registration slave contract, traffic citations slave contract, Social Security slave contract, 1040 slave contract, etc, all of which waiver all Constitutional rights in exchange for "voluntary" civil slave contract. Even if it paid $19-million to refuse signing away their rights... That's a $10-million/hour paycheck to Just Say No... How long can YOU just say no? Proof of MKULTRATV brainwash by COPS, 24 and The Shield. This should be required study for all US Special Forces soldiers, high school students and Hollywood scriptwriters, in resisting interrogation by Police State Death Squads. Is this a mind game by torture without leaving marks, or serial killer mafia enforcers? Plus PNTV interview with General,er, Colonel Janis Karpinski, the commander of Abu Ghraib Death Camp. At least Abu Ghraib didn't clip electrodes to genitals like TN cops. Music by Inner Circle, Team 13 and Counter Coup. As broadcast by PNTV. PS: Siler's wife is a GENIUS!!! How many wives would allow their husbands to be tortured, for a $19-million payday?
Tortured by Copsters in USA - Short clip from hidden audiotape of Lester Siler tortured by Cambell County Sheriff deputies in his home in East Tennessee
SEPARATED AT BIRTH? Christian biker, aerospace engineer and legal scholar John Quade don't need no stinkin Driver License contract in Every Which Way But Loose - Bug Buster General Randy Quaid don't need no stinkin pilot license contract in Independence Day
Voluntary Driver License contracts - Vehicle registration is a voluntary donation of your vehicle to the state. Patriot lecture by rocket scientist John Quade, aka John William Saunders, aka Cholla, leader of the motorcycle gang "The Black Widows" in Mayor Clint Eastwood's hit film Every Which Way But Loose. John Quade is apparently not "John Quaid" (sic), the dead father of Hollywood superstars Dennis Quaid and Randy Quaid, tho that would explain why Randy don't look nuttin like Dennis...
"In 1937, Tennessee became the 32nd state to enact a driver license law. During the first year, 521,571 licenses were issued, while today the number of licensed drivers in Tennessee is 4.1 million."
-Tennessee Dept of Safety, Administration
Voluntary Driver License contracts - Vehicle registration is a voluntary donation of your vehicle to the state. MP3 download of lecture by John Quade
How to Beat a Speed Ticket - Kicking robocop ass in San Diego, where millions of criminal aliens invade USA with immunity from arrest and deportation. Note that TeeVee "news" censors the one defense that's 100% effective in court, which is simply throwing the ticket in the trash and ignoring it. Note that TicketAssassin.com censors this winning tactic, which is probably why it was featured by the Media Mafia
Death of a Speed Camera - Dutch robocop learns who's boss. Featuring the hit songs "I'm On Fire" and "Burn Motherfucker Burn"
"Note that Tennessee's first post Civil War governor, William Gannaway 'Parsons' Brownlow, Luciferian Masonic owner of Knoxville's Whig newspaper, was a convicted terrorist bomber on death row, for blowing up all of Knoxville's bridges... The preacher is buried with honors in Knoxville's Old Gray treasonous Union Army cemetary. Too bad the current KNS and Christian leaders lack any form of patriotism, unless you count supporting the Bush Gang's bombings on 9/11/2001, opeing the borders to 50-million illegal alien enemy combatants, and overthrowing USA by merger with Mexico and Canada in the Security & Propserity Partnership (WWW.SPP.GOV) to be 'patriotism'."
-John Lee, PNTV
Convicted terrorist bomber Parsons Brownlow gives his Satanic Masonic handsign as Governor of Tennessee which was birthplace of the Jewish Masonic Mafia's KKK leg by British cannibal homosexual traitor General Albert Pike the Jewish Luciferian pope of Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
"William Gannaway Brownlow was born in Virginia, was a circuit-riding Methodist minister and became known as "Parson" Brownlow or "The Fighting Parson". In 1839, Brownlow started a newspaper, the Tennessee Whig, in Elizabethton, Tennessee. He moved it to Jonesboro, Tennessee in 1840 and then to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1849, renaming it the Knoxville Whig. The newspaper became known for its strong pro-Whig, pro-Methodist, nativist, pro-Union, pro-slavery and an anti-secession stances. Brownlow and many of his supporters were pro-slavery (he himself owned slaves used as servants at various times), but were willing to consider scrapping slavery if necessary to save the Union. Brownlow's passionately articulate stances and dramatic (if sometimes mean-spirited) writing also attracted thousands of subscribers from beyond Knoxville. At one point, the Knoxville Whig had over three times as many subscribers across the country as there were residents in Knoxville. The newspaper's two masthead slogans, "Cry Aloud and Spare Not," and "Independent in All Things, Neutral in Nothing," captured the spirit of the publication and its publisher. As the Civil War approached, Brownlow worked tirelessly to dissuade any of his readers from supporting secession. Once Tennessee seceded, Brownlow shifted to attacking the Confederate government. In October 1861 he was forced to cease publishing and flee Knoxville, hiding in Cades Cove. Offered a safe conduct pass to Union lines, he returned to Knoxville that winter only to be arrested and imprisoned. Union prisoners in Knoxville endured physical abuse and starvation for several months as part of an extortion ring involving a corrupt magistrate and jailor, and while Brownlow and many other prisoners were freed after Confederate authorities learned of the abuse, his health never fully recovered. After being escorted to Union lines in March 1862, Brownlow toured the North, stirring up support for East Tennessee Unionists and publishing books and articles. In November 1863, Brownlow returned to Knoxville after its liberation from Confederate occupation by General Ambrose Burnside and resumed publishing his newspaper under the new name of the "Knoxville Whig and Rebel Ventilator". Brownlow's election after the Civil War as governor survived his opponents' attempts to rig the vote. The Confederacy had just surrendered, and much of the state had required Union military occupation. Certain ex-Confederate officers were barred from voting, and a strong showing came from the eastern part of the state, a center of Union loyalty where there had never been much slavery practiced and secession was generally opposed. Tennessee was not officially readmitted to the union until July 2, 1866; even then it was the first ex-Confederate state to be officially readmitted. Brownlow was re-elected by a greatly expanded electorate (with the inclusion of Blacks) in 1867; he resigned in February 1869 to accept election to the United States Senate by the state legislature, the method used prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment."
CODEX MAJICA BY DR TEXE MARRS PHD - Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin and his cohorts were Satanic Jews who put 66 million to death in the indescribable Red Terror. Yet, it was a capital crime ("anti-semitism") to reveal their Jewish ethnic identity. Pictured above are four Soviet gulag camp commandants, all Jews. They are giving a Masonic hand sign
Abusing a Gatso speed camera - British patriots, yobs and Gatso repairmen attack treasonous robocop. Did they get nicked? "Course they didnt, the Police were all busy hiding in bushes catching Vicars doing 51mph in a 50 limit. Normally i wouldnt condone vandalism, but fair play to these lads for doing what most of us would love to do!!" "Flash now ya bastard!" :) Laughed my arse off!! "My mates a copper, he reckons they all hate the bloody speed cameras as well. Don't blame the cops, blame the greedy government."
The Truth About Speed Cameras - British govt proves LASER guns to be a fraud. BBC South West current affairs programme 'Inside Out', January 2007: "Thousands of motorists have been prosecuted in error. Former policeman Bill Cox was convicted, but appealed, and won. So could the camera have lied? How does it get a speed reading when the vehicle isn't moving? Wow, you get a 58mph reading from a wall, that isn't moving!" British biker kicks cops ass in traffic court. "Wow... I never knew that. Bloody speed cameras are a big fat stealth tax. Everybody knows it. If there was one outside evry school etc, then fine. But on dual carriageways?? Who the fuck am I going to run over on a fast road like that?? Its all bollox." Part 2 BBC video -- BBC LASER Speed Scam webpage
Pushing the Speed Limit - BBC South West current affairs programme 'Inside Out', January 24, 2005: "Since the government introduced speed cameras back in 1991, motorists have been up in arms about the implications for their daily journeys. But now drivers are fighting back - and not always within the law. This is the Driver's Survival Handbook - a comprehensive guide on everything you need to know to evade transport law. The author, Martin Thwaite, is an ex-traffic officer with 20 years experience, so when it comes to loopholes, he's got the scoop. But he's keeping a low profile, because his book tells drivers how to evade traffic police, avoid points on your licence and even how to wriggle out of a fine if you get caught. Since the Road Traffic Act was passed in 1991, more than 5,000 cameras have been implemented along the side of our roads, some more visible than others."
Has speed camera use fallen? - MotorcycleNews.com in United Kingdom set out to find out if the use of mobile speed camera vans has fallen by speaking to one of the speed camera partnership staff as he went about his job. NOTE THAT THIS IS A PRIVATE CONTRACT NOT A GOVT AGENCY.
Car Cloning - BBC South West current affairs programme 'Inside Out', January 24, 2005: "Have you ever been sent a parking fine from somewhere you've never been to? Or how about a speeding ticket even though your car was off the road? If so you may have become the latest victim of car cloning. Inside Out's Ashley Blake investigates this escalating crime which is proving extremely difficult to police. To buy legal registration plates for your car you need your log book, driver's licence and proof of address. Yet plates sold for show use can now be bought on the internet or over the phone and no documentation is required. With no proof needed, any registration number can be ordered meaning any car can be cloned. The car can then be used by criminals who rack up parking fines, speeding tickets and more importantly, use them to commit crimes. John Cahill became a victim of car cloning, but it wasn't a parking fine that landed on his doorstep, it was an armed police squad.
John's car had supposedly been used as a getaway vehicle in an armed robbery, making John the prime suspect. With the house surrounded by armed officers, John was eventually escorted to the police station. John was released after five hours when police confirmed his alibi." In Knoxville Tennessee, bank robbers purchase REAL vehicle license tags from co-conspirators employed at car dealerships, taken from trash cans, after removal from cars traded in.
by Professor Glenn Reynolds
UT College of Law
April 28, 2006
KNOXVILLE, TENN. - I was on WBIR last night expressing my skepticism that the new Knoxville red-light cameras will work out.
WBIR: "I'm sure we'll see plenty of challenges," UT Law Professor Glenn Reynolds challenged the idea of "Big Brother" ticketing people in the March issue of Popular Mechanics. "My own personal opinion is it's all about the revenue, it's not about safety," Reynolds said. It's more like a parking ticket. It's a non-moving violation, so no points go on anyone's drivers license. "Photo Cops" in Minneapolis captured images of t-bone wrecks and ticketed 26,000 violators in eight months.
Then the American Civil Liberties Union sued. "You're automatically guilty of a crime, and that's just wrong," MN ACLU spokesperson Chuck Samuelson said. A Minnesota judge recently shut the cameras down.
Searching the name of the contractor, Redflex, on Google just now I found an example of a city that hasn't had a very good experience -- as I noted, accidents increased, but surprisingly, it hasn't been a good deal for the city, either:
While the cameras are catching red-light violators in the act, there has been an increase in traffic collisions at two of the four intersections since video surveillance was implemented.
But it's losing money:
From July through December, the city collected $122,000 in revenue generated from red-light fines, including noncamera violations.
That's not enough to pay the $135,474 due Redflex, the Arizona-based company Modesto contracted with in June 2004 to operate the system.
What's more, there are problems with malfunctions:
At Oakdale Road and Briggsmore, the number of traffic collisions rose 81 percent, from 16 accidents in 2004 to 29 in 2005.
Steve Stratton drives through that intersection 10 to 15 times a day delivering pizzas.
The Turlock resident was glad that the cameras would help police catch red-light violators, until he spotted the camera go off 10 to 15 times while he drove through the intersection, he said.
That malfunction happened in January and it has happened since, he said, but he's still a little uneasy.
"Now I'm a little leery about them," Stratton said. "I always have a paper and pen handy, so I can write down when they went off."
Most people, of course, will just pay the tickets rather than go through the hassle of fighting them, even if they they think they're undeserved.
Me, I want to see how many city cars are running red lights, and if anyone's ticketed when they do.
Ewan McGregor said he is sick of Britain's "ludicrous nanny state" rules, which he said might force him to quit the country, in an interview to be published Tuesday.
Health and safety regulations were becoming "insane", the 36-year-old film star told the weekly Radio Times magazine.
The Scottish actor, who played the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the most recent Star Wars trilogy, blasted the rise of security cameras and London's congestion charge, which forces drivers to pay to enter the city centre.
McGregor recently completed a 15,000-mile (24,000-kilometre) motorcycle adventure, riding the length of Africa with best friend and fellow actor Charley Boorman.
"Our trip opened my eyes to how insane the rules are in Britain -- CCTV cameras everywhere, congestion charge -- a ludicrous nanny state.
"If anything drives me out of the country it will be that -- not tax, I don't earn enough."
When Daniel Craig was unveiled as the new James Bond actor in October 2005, he was forced to wear a life jacket as he sped through London on a boat up the River Thames.
It was somewhat out of keeping for the daredevil fictional British spy, in a press call stunt widely acknowledged as having backfired.
"It's not his fault. He's doing what he's told," McGregor groaned.
"Today, health and safety are out of control. In Africa, garage attendants smoked as they filled the bikes. I took great pleasure in that."
McGregor has starred in "Trainspotting" (1996), "A Life Less Ordinary" (1997), "Rogue Trader" (1999), "Moulin Rouge!", "Black Hawk Down" (2001), and "Miss Potter" (2006).
He made the first of three outings as Kenobi in 1999 in "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace".
McGregor and Boorman rode from John O'Groats, Britain's most northerly settlement, to Cape Agulhas, the southern tip of South Africa, for a BBC television series.
The Scot said he was touched by the kindness offered to him in Africa.
"People are nice to us because we're travellers, and the most generous and happiest are often those who have the least, whereas in Britain we're devastatingly depressed, yet have so much," McGregor said.
Boorman added: "We never got fed up with each other, but sometimes I couldn't stand the smell after a few days without a shower."
Ewan McGregor And Charley Boorman Complete The Long Way Down - Three months, fifteen thousand miles, and two continents covering some of the world's most inhospitable terrains by motorcycle may have smacked of the impossible. Since those first miles in May 2007 in John O'Groats, Scotland, they have ridden through twenty countries, including Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Rwanda. They have encountered and negotiated blinding sandstorms, searing temperatures, dodgy border crossings and extreme riding conditions. Ewan and Charley have been accompanied during the trip by a camera operator and both have worn cameras fitted to their helmets to capture the trip from the rider's perspective. The pair have supported evil UNICEF, CHAS and Riders for Health on their travels.
"Motorists face the prospect of national pay-as-you drive road-pricing as Ruth Kelly "flip-flops" on the controversial scheme in a long-term transport policy report published today. The Transport Secretary sparked a new row as she announced in a major policy document that "road pricing could have the potential to be extended to include parts of out national networks". In the shorter term the Government favours a series of local pay-as-you drive schemes in pilot 10 areas including Manchester or Cambridge. Political critics are asking whether that Government - which earlier this month signalled it was backing away from a national pay-as-you drive scheme of up to £1.50 a mile with cars tracked by satellite or roadside beacon - was kicking the idea even further into the long grass, or performing another u-turn on its earlier u-turn. Earlier this year about 1.8 million people put their signatures to a Downing Street website petition opposing road charging. The Transport Secretary's report to cut pollution and congestion - called Towards a Sustainable Transport System - is in response to a Government-sponsored study by former British Airways boss Sir Rod Eddington which concluded that the case for road pricing to beat congestion was "compelling". On the positive "flip" side, Miss Kelly's report says: "Potential benefits from a well-designed, large scale road pricing scheme are unrivalled by any other single intervention. Getting the prices right on roads.... is a major prize." Ministers said the document - a response to recent Government-commissioned reviews of transport and climate change - is designed to spark a public debate on how to spend £20 billion of long-term funding."Br>
-Ray Massey, London Daily Mail, Motorists face national pay-as-you-drive scheme as Ruth Kelly unveils new transport plans, 30th October 2007
By David Millward
London Daily Telegraph
01 Feb 2009
MPs were told that the national safety camera programme saw a surge in the use of cameras between 2001 and 2007.
The total number of sites rose from 1,672 to 4,737 in just six years with some dramatic rises in various parts of the country, including a twelvefold rise in Leicestershire.
The vast increase in the number of cameras and the rise in speeding fines from £40 to £60 meant that the amount of money the cameras raised rose from just over £10 million in 2001 to £120 million in 2007.
Details of the spread of speed cameras emerged as a motorist attempts to challenge the entire legality of the programme, arguing that the cameras have not received the necessary parliamentary approval.
All the money raised during the national safety camera programme was spent on buying yet more cameras, leading to accusations that they were really being used as a stealth tax on motorists.
It is believed that the income from fines has fallen since the scrapping of the national programme by the Department for Transport in an attempt to defuse the controversy the programme caused.
This meant that the 38 Camera Partnerships were also told that they had to hand the money to the Treasury and then apply for a grant from a road safety fund.
But the figures released by the Department for Transport, in a Commons written reply, has laid bare how fast the cameras spread especially as a result of new areas joining the programme.
Cumbria had no cameras in 2001, but by 2007 there were 44 on the county's roads. Humberside also was without cameras in 2001, but by 2007 it had 82.
Other areas saw spectacular increases during the same period, including Mid and South Wales, which saw the number of cameras increase from 74 to 355 during the same period.
Wiltshire, meanwhile saw a tenfold increase with only six cameras in 2001 and 63 by 2007.
It has also been at the centre of the growing political backlash against the programme, with Tory-controlled Swindon Council voting to have the cameras stripped from its streets.
Northamptonshire County Council has also said it is ready to re-evaluate its participation in the programme, which has seen the number of cameras on its roads rise from 26 in 2001 to 84 in 2007.
But the Department for Transport defended the use of the cameras, which form part of its strategy of bringing road deaths down.
"Safety cameras are there to save lives, not make money. Independent research has shown there are 1,745 fewer deaths and serious injuries at camera sites each year. The Government is clear that the best safety camera is the one which takes no fines at all, but succeeds in deterring drivers from speeding."
Speed cameras are to be installed on large sections of the motorway network under a government plan to reduce congestion and vehicle emissions by cutting and strictly enforcing the speed limit at peak times.
The plan was announced as the Department for Transport published forecasts that congestion will rise by at least 28 per cent by 2025. It believes that “active traffic management” — in which the speed limit varies according to the conditions — will be a cheaper way of accommodating rising traffic levels than widening motorways.
Proposals to widen the M6 between Birmingham and Manchester and sections of the M1 may now be dropped. The department will instead build gantries at intervals across congested sections of the motorway network. The gantries will carry cameras and digital signs displaying the limit, which will be reduced to between 40mph and 60mph depending on the volume of traffic.
A trial of the variable-speed-limit system on the M42, southeast of Birmingham, has shown that more than 95 per cent of drivers comply. The limit on the 11-mile stretch of motorway is enforced by eight cameras rotated among 96 locations.
Police have tended to carry out very little speed-limit enforcement on motorways and a government survey found that more than half of cars on the motorway network exceeded the 70mph limit last year.
The M42 trial, and a similar scheme on the southwest section of the M25, found that reducing the limit resulted in faster average journeys because vehicles were less likely to brake sharply, which causes tailbacks. Overall fuel consumption fell by 4 per cent and vehicle emissions by 10 per cent.
The trial included use of the hard shoulder as a running lane in peak times and found that this reduced average journey times on the northbound carriageway by more than a quarter.
Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, confirmed yesterday that the hard shoulder would be used as an extra lane on two short sections of the M6. She also said that variable speed limits would be introduced on other parts of the motorway around Birmingham and that a feasibility study would take place into introducing them across much of the motorway network.
In an interview with The Times, she said: “The trial shows there is a real culture change. People are focusing on the way they are driving and there is almost complete compliance with the limit. It’s about trying to encourage a regular flow of traffic rather than stop-start conditions. It reduces emissions and many people would prefer it to taking land to widen a road.”
She said that the study would consider introducing different speed limits for different lanes. On a four-lane motorway, the limit on the two outside lanes could be 60mph while on the two inside lanes, where traffic joins and exits, the limit could be reduced to 40mph or 50mph.
The Transport Department forecasts show that, even assuming improvements to traffic flow on motorways, journeys on roads in England will take 4 per cent, or three seconds, longer per kilometre by 2025.
Theresa Villiers, the Shadow Transport Secretary, said that Mrs Kelly was seeking to distract attention from cuts in the roadbuilding programme. “Conservatives welcome more hard-shoulder driving and we have repeatedly called for more active traffic management and efficient use of existing road space,” Ms Villiers said. “However, such schemes should not be used as an excuse to put the brakes on the much-needed improvement to the worst road bottlenecks.”
"Knoxville City Council approved the Redflex red lights cameras by a 6-3 vote last night. Only Steve Hall, Joe Bailey, and Joe Hultquist voted against the red light cameras. The closet thing to a poll on this is at the Knoxville News Sentinel online edition. The overwhelming majority of respondents are against the red light cameras. Michael Silence’s blog on the KNS has featured many stories on the red light cameras. Even Glen Reynolds has commented or what a poor idea this is for Knoxville.
This morning on the Lloyd Daugherty radio program on AM 1180 caller after caller expressed their disappointment, anger, and frustration with City Council. One caller described the vote on the red light cameras as government malpractice. City Councilman Steve Hall was in the studio and was asked if the red light camera contract gave Redflex the right to control the yellow light duration. Hall said that City Engineering was still in control of the yellow light duration and that Redflex could not change the yellow light timing. Hall also said that the contract with Redflex will be reviewed in one year and there is no penalty clause if the City decides to cancel the contract. A caller asked Hall if City Engineering would increase the yellow light duration to five seconds so the Redflex red light cameras would not be so dangerous to drivers. Hall responded that he had asked City Engineering to increase the yellow light duration but they said it was too expensive to do so. Hall further said that City Engineering feels the timing of the yellow lights is correct and that there is no need to change the timing. Later in the program a caller gave out the phone numbers for City Engineering department of Traffic Engineering. Councilman Hall was asked by the caller to bring Section Chief Mark Geldmeier and Ernie Pierce of the Traffic Signal Group to City Council for a workshop to explain why the yellow light duration should not be changed to 5 seconds in light of the vote to install the red light cameras. Then Hall said something unexpected. He said that Mark Geldmeier was the person that suggested the red light cameras to the Knoxville Police Department. When asked if the red light cameras were Geldmeier’s idea Hall responded yes. Is there a problem here? The individual who is the decision maker for the length of the yellow light duration is the same person who came up with the idea for the red light cameras? If you feel an explanation is required then contact your City Council representative and request a workshop in City Council to explain how and why yellow light durations are determined and set. Why should there be any reluctance to explain this to the community? The question is simple, is this about revenue or is it about safety?"
-SayUncle.com, "Government malpractice, red light camera update", November 09, 2005 (10 comments)
"I am writing to ask you for your help. Over the years the yellow light
duration has gone from 5 seconds to 3 to 4 seconds. This has created a
safety hazard for intersections in Knoxville. I ask that you require
City Engineering to have a full five-second yellow light and a two
second hold on cross traffic. I ask that you do this regardless of what decision you make on the red
light cameras. I hope you will change your previous approval and deny
the red light cameras. City after city has learned that these cameras
cause more accidents. Public safety is your most important
responsibility. If the City must have more revenue then raise the
property tax. This is one of the most important decisions ever considered by City
Council. It is possible that a major lawsuit against the City could be
filed charging that the City was negligent in allowing the red light
cameras with a shortened yellow light duration. There is so much data
available today to show red light cameras with shortened yellow light
durations cause accidents. How could the City defend against such a
lawsuit? The majority of the residents are against the red light cameras. Our
desire is public safety. When you placed revenue over public safety
you do so against our wishes. If for any reason you have not seen the information I am referring to
I have listed some of it below. Please use your authority to require
City Engineering to have a full five-second yellow light and a two
second hold on cross traffic."
-SayUncle.com, "Open letter to Knoxville City Council", November 09, 2005 (5 comments)
"Nine people - including two attorneys - requested hearings on their alleged red-light camera infractions Wednesday, but all of them had a change of mind when court started. Since the 11 cameras have been installed between April and June at seven intersections, more than 17,000 violations have been recorded, according to Darrell DeBusk, spokesman for the Knoxville Police Department. As of last month, Knoxville has received $23,942.50 from red-light camera fines, said city public information officer Randy Kenner. City officials were ready Wednesday to defend appeals requested by nine people, with a city attorney on hand, police officers who had viewed the digital violations and recordings of the infractions to share with Municipal Judge John Rosson. But only one cited attorney and a representative for another attorney showed. Rosson ordered dismissals of the appeals for six of the nine people. That resulted in an automatic finding of guilt for those registered owners of cited vehicles. The judge's ruling also dumped an additional $67.50 in court costs on those people who failed to show to support their requested appeal. Redflex Traffic Systems, which operates the cameras under contract with the city, will notify those six people of the additional costs now associated with their violations. One person who had requested a hearing apparently reconsidered that move and sent his $50 fine to Redflex, according to Richard Wingate, city court administrator. The two attorneys who had been cited were able to elude the $67.50 in additional court costs. Attorney Wayne Kline appeared because of the July 14 violation issued to a Toyota van registered to him. The van was captured by a red-light camera at 9:01 a.m. zipping through the traffic signal at 42 mph at the intersection of Kingston Pike and Alcoa Highway, records show. Kline asked Rosson to grant him diversion on the case. Rosson declined and Kline opted to pay the $50 fine rather than contest the violation. Under Tennessee law, diversion allows a person to keep an offense off their criminal or driving record. "There's nothing to divert," Rosson said. 'There's no point in diverting it because it doesn't go on your driving record and there are no points against your license.' Kline said a friend of his daughter was driving the van when the red-light infraction occurred. That friend lives in New York City, Kline said, so he opted to pay the fine 'rather than tie up the system.' 'It's already been brought to my daughter's attention,' Kline said. Attorney Tommy Hindman had been cited when a BMW registered to him was caught making a right turn on red without coming to a complete stop. The violation occurred at 6:06 p.m. July 10 at North Cedar Bluff and North Peters roads, records show. An attorney from Hindman's office asked about the case and opted to pay the fine without contesting it after Ron Mills, with the city law department, explained the appeals process. Since the cameras have been installed, one violation has been dismissed upon appeal. In that case, Redflex employees and an officer from KPD misread a license plate letter and issued a violation to the wrong person. The case was dismissed with no costs. Under its contract with Redflex, the city gets 15 percent of the first $4,500 collected each month from each camera. The city gets 50 percent of additional money collected above the $4,500."
-Don Jacobs, Knoxville News Sentinel, "9 red-light-ticket appeals fizzle - More than 17,000 violations recorded by 11 cameras," September 7, 2006
"The closet thing to a poll on this is at the Knoxville News Sentinel online edition. The overwhelming majority of respondents are against the red light cameras. Michael Silence’s blog on the KNS has featured many stories on the red light cameras. Even Glen Reynolds has commented or what a poor idea this is for Knoxville. This morning on the Lloyd Daugherty radio program on AM 1180 caller after caller expressed their disappointment, anger, and frustration with City Council. One caller described the vote on the red light cameras as government malpractice. City Councilman Steve Hall was in the studio and was asked if the red light camera contract gave Redflex the right to control the yellow light duration. Hall said that City Engineering was still in control of the yellow light duration and that Redflex could not change the yellow light timing. Hall also said that the contract with Redflex will be reviewed in one year and there is no penalty clause if the City decides to cancel the contract. A caller asked Hall if City Engineering would increase the yellow light duration to five seconds so the Redflex red light cameras would not be so dangerous to drivers. Hall responded that he had asked City Engineering to increase the yellow light duration but they said it was too expensive to do so. Hall further said that City Engineering feels the timing of the yellow lights is correct and that there is no need to change the timing. Later in the program a caller gave out the phone numbers for City Engineering department of Traffic Engineering. Councilman Hall was asked by the caller to bring Section Chief Mark Geldmeier and Ernie Pierce of the Traffic Signal Group to City Council for a workshop to explain why the yellow light duration should not be changed to 5 seconds in light of the vote to install the red light cameras. Then Hall said something unexpected. He said that Mark Geldmeier was the person that suggested the red light cameras to the Knoxville Police Department. When asked if the red light cameras were Geldmeier’s idea Hall responded yes."
-#9, SayUncle.com, "Government malpractice, red light camera update", November 09, 2005
"The telltale white flashes began popping Monday as the city of Knoxville's first traffic-enforcement cameras came online, snapping photos of red-light-running drivers at the intersection of Kingston Pike and Alcoa Highway. The city's three-year contract with private camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems allows for up to 15 intersections to be monitored. Redflex is entitled to 85 percent of the monthly revenues collected from the fines, up to $4,500 per camera. Any revenues beyond that would be split 50-50 between the vendor and the city."
-Hayes Hickman, Knoxville News Sentinel, "First traffic-enforcement cameras taking shots at red-light runners," April 25, 2006
15 intersections at $4,500 each per month, equals $810,0000/year exported from Knoxville to Australia, MINIMUM, BEFORE City of Knoxville Municipal Corporation gets a penny... Fukkin Jews, I knew it! Bastard Geldmeier and many more are probably getting kickback bribes, which is a felony in Tennessee... Send tips to producer@piratenews.org
Attack of the Killer Pod People
by John Lee
Pirate News TV
As the Junior White House gives the Arab terrorists 21 British ports in USA, 9 factories of Weapons of Mass Destruction in USA, and security contracts defending US military bases in USA (the same Arab terrorists accused by the Bush Gang of perping the 9/11 attacks), my uncle Bob Plenge proudly claims fame as the first mayor in USA to give away 100$ of million$ of taxdollar$ to REDflex in AUSTRALIA, for Robocop Spy Cameras.
"Over the last decade, the Redflex Holdings Group has established itself as a world leader in traffic management, road safety, defence, transport, security and communications products. Redflex Holdings consists of two distinct but complementary companies; Redflex Communications Systems and Redflex Traffic Systems. Each of the Redflex companies provides customers with technologically advanced solutions specifically tailored to meet their individual requirements. The Group is based in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, where it runs its own systems engineering operation as well as complex system integration and research and development programs. An in-house team of more than 135 professional engineers is supported by experienced managerial, financial and administrative personnel. Redflex Holdings employs more than 270 people in Australia and the USA, with offices and representatives located throughout the world. Redflex Holdings Limited was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in January 1997. Redflex Traffic Systems provides innovative public safety solutions to local and state governments in the USA and aboard. Headquartered in Scottsdale Arizona and with local offices coast-to-coast, Redflex partners with public safety officials in law enforcement, transportation and engineering to reduce traffic crashes and eliminate the resulting injuries, fatalities and loss of property. As pioneers and supporting programs since 1986, Redflex is the most recognized name in the photo enforcement business. Redflex Traffic Systems Inc has contracts in 100 cities world-wide and, with 84 cities under contract, is the largest provider of digital red light and speed enforcement services in North America. With photo speed programs in 8 states and photo red light programs across 16 states, Redflex has led the market in installed systems, installation rate and market share over the past 12 months."
-REDflex.com.AU
CA SR91 Looks like the new Malfunction Junction in Knoxville TN
Today, reality sets in with $8.50 “value priced” toll lanes during rush hour on SR 91 in Southern California (see actual photo of SR 91 during rush hour above). Note the untolled lanes are a dangerous congested nightmare, and even those who pay, must slow down and join the congestion to exit off the highway. Did the toll roads, managed lanes or value pricing ease traffic congestion? "These lanes were built w/taxpayer money. Should have never been toll road. We are being held hostage by OC and Caltrans. Why aren't our Riverside County reps standing up for us?” “They are making almost a million dollars every week, and still cannot do anything to relieve the congestion on the 91. Even the yellow "cones" along the FasTrak lanes are old and often times missing. Where is all the money going?” “"Congestion-pricing" is French for fleecing consumers. Oct.'s plan is about making money, not reducing congestion.” “When the Orange County Transportation Authority announced they were going to purchase the toll lanes, they said that the prices were going to drop not go up. Once again, the government lies to get what they want.”
-SalCostello.Blogspot.com
"A proposal to create a toll road authority in Tennessee is on its way for the governor's signature after being approved by both chambers of the Legislature on Monday. The measure was approved on a 19-11 vote in the Senate and 72-21 in the House. The bill would limit the number of pilot toll projects to two: one bridge and one road. For the bridge project, officials are considering a six-mile stretch of road and bridge near the suburbs northeast of Nashville. States are being urged to consider toll roads to make up for decreased federal funding for road projects, sponsors said. Tennessee will have to make do without $153 million worth of federal funds in the next budget year. Some lawmakers were concerned that the legislation would allow immediate construction of toll roads. But Black said the bill would prevent toll road from being constructed until after public hearings, feasibility studies and legislative approval. "We're not trying to create toll roads all over the state," said Sen. Tommy Kilby, D-Wartburg."
-Knoxville News Sentinel, TDOT given OK to discuss toll roads, June 12, 2007
Truth Be Tolled - All Texas streets and highways have been given free to the King of Spain as private toll roads. DVD by TruthBeTolled.com
"The monarchy will insure that social peace and stability are maintained under the principles of democracy, and the orderly access to power of the distinct alternatives of government will be according to the will of the people."
-King Juan Carlos, monarch of Fascist Spain, Future of Constitutional Monarchy - North American Model 2030: North American Constitution
How the Government Will Toll Existing Roads - No need to slow down, you will be billed by automatic deduction from your bank account, or murdered by police state death squad
TruthBeTolled.com - All Texas streets and highways have been given free to the King of Spain as private toll roads. DVD trailers
"Critics charge that the Macquarie purchase of American Consolidated Media is designed to silence critics of a Texas toll road project. Australian toll road giant Macquarie agreed Wednesday to purchase forty local newspapers, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, for $80 million. Macquarie Bank is Australia's largest capital raising firm and has invested billions in purchasing roads in the US, Canada and UK. Most recently the company joined with Cintra Concesiones of Spain in a controversial 75-year lease of the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road. Sal Costello, the leading opponent of toll road projects as head of the Texas Toll Party, says the move is directly related to a 4000-mile toll road project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor. It will cost between $145 and $183 billion to construct the road, expected to be up to 1200 feet wide, requiring the acquisition of 9000 square miles of land in the areas through which it will pass. "The newspapers are the main communication tool for many of the rural Texan communities, with many citizens at risk of losing their homes and farms through eminent domain," Costello wrote.
Many of the small papers purchased, most have a circulation of 5000 or less, have been critical of the Trans-Texas Corridor. An article in the Bonham Journal for example, states, "The toll roads will be under control of foreign investors, which more than frustrates Texans."
-TheNewspaper.com, Australian Toll Road Giant Buys U.S. Newspapers to Silence Critics, January 26, 2007
"Government has figured out a way to make money on public infrastructure. The plan is to convert existing Texas roadways into toll ways and hand them over to foreign interests without a public vote. Many citizens are crying highway robbery.
Elected officials have passed laws unnoticed simply to pave the way. The political establishment is not listening to the people-- but their voices will be heard. This feature documentary follows the process as citizens exercise their most important power as members of a democracy: freedom of speech. From mayors of small cities, political representatives and grass roots organizers to working-class Texans, all unite to state their loud opposition. The strongest voices rise from small rural communities whose farms, homes, schools, businesses and churches face the largest forcible eminent domain acquisition in U.S. history. The Trans-Texas Corridor, the first leg of the proposed NAFTA superhighway, will not only rip the heart out of Texas-- it will kill a way of life that has been in the Lone Star State forever."
-TruthBeTolled.com, winner Houston Film Festival 2007
RED DAWN FOR REAL: Communist China Wins NAFTA Super-Highway Battle - Red China is investing heavily in developing deep-water ports in Mexico to bring an unprecedented volume of containers into the U.S. along the emerging NAFTA Super Highway. This move signals China's emergence as the unexpected economic winner in the North American Union free market. Hutchinson Ports is a wholly owned subsidiary of China's giant Hutchinson Whampoa Limited (HWL). According to Judicial Watch, "Hutchinson, Whampoa, Ltd. is the holding company of billionaire Li Ka-shing, a well-known businessman, whose companies make up 15 percent of the market capitalization of the Hong Kong Stock Market." A Judicial Watch complaint filed in 2002, at the time HWL was purchasing the then-bankrupt Global Crossing, notes that Li Ka-Shing's holdings includes ports, telecom, and energy assets around the world. According to a declassified U.S. government intelligence report that Judicial Watch obtained in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, "Li is directly connected to Bei
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