The River Forest police committee will recommend the village enter into a contract with Lombard-based Red Speed Illinois to install cameras at traffic lights for the purpose of catching scofflaw motorists.
Any red light camera technology, if approved, would not be in place before December at the earliest.
Committee chairman Steve Hoke and member Steve Dudek listened to presentations from Police Chief Frank Limon and Red Speed representative Michael Lebert, and questioned both men on details of the technology and its use in traffic enforcement. Red Speed currently has about 125 cameras in 55 municipalities, Lebert said.
Tickets issued for running a red light are generally $100 per violation, the maximum amount allowed under state law. They are administered by local municipalities and treated like parking tickets, rather than moving violations. The citations do not go on a person’s driving record.
River Forest and Oak Park officials have been considering use of the technology since at least the fall of 2007. In December 2007, former police chief Nicholas Weiss called the cameras “a viable program to consider.” That proposal died when a majority of the board expressed opposition.
Around that same time, Oak Park Police Chief Rick Tanksley solicited bids from five red light camera companies.
Limon said he had three primary reasons for advocating red light camera enforcement – a reduction in vehicle accidents, less time spent by officers in dealing with those accidents, and officer safety.
Limon quoted from statistics indicating that red light cameras reduce the incidence of vehicle accidents by up to 40 percent within several months after installation. He said the village reviewed traffic accidents between 2006 and 2008 at 17 intersections with traffic controls. Of the 233 vehicle accidents reported, 23 resulted in injuries.
The most likely locations for any such cameras in River Forest would be at North Avenue and Harlem Avenue, and Harlem and Lake Street. Those two intersections had 32 and 37 accidents, respectively, between 2006 and 2008. The third highest total was 22 accidents at Thatcher Avenue and North.
Limon stressed that stepping out into traffic is a dangerous task for law enforcement, particularly on heavily traveled roads.
“Traffic stops on North and Harlem are pretty dangerous things to do,” said Limon, adding that the act of enforcing the traffic laws is “likely to be more dangerous than the red light violation itself.”
Beyond accident reduction, he said, the camera technology will free up manpower for other uses. Each traffic accident, he said, on average takes four police man hours to deal with.
One of the stronger selling points for Red Speed, Limon and Lebert said, was the lower monthly fee, which is $1,499, plus $30 to $36 per violation ticketed. The other three technology providers charge flat monthly fees of between $4,395 and $4,750 per month. Lebert also noted that Red Speed is the only red light enforcement company located in Illinois.
He added that the program would not cost village taxpayers.
“The program is entirely violator funded,” Lebert said.
Lebert told Hoke and Dudek the camera technology, while owned by Reed Speed, would be supervised by the police department. Red Speed would provide video evidence of red light violations to police, who would then be the sole arbiters of whether to issue a ticket.
Committee chairman Hoke, who has been skeptical of red light cameras in the past, said he was swayed by Limon’s arguments. In particular, he was convinced by Limon’s assurance that the same level of officer discretion currently applied to traffic violations on the street would be applied to tickets considered under the red light camera program.
“We’ll recommend to the village board that they pursue this,” said Hoke.
That recommendation is expected to come during Monday’s regular board meeting. The board will likely hear a presentation by Lebert at its July board meeting, or during a committee of the whole meeting.