WKSU News: Cleveland redeploys police to replace rejected red-light traffic cameras

Thursday, November 13, 2014 Cleveland redeploys police to replace rejected red-light traffic cameras Officers will patrol high accident and speeding areas after 77 percent of Cleveland voters say no to automated system by WKSU's KEVIN NIEDERMIER	Reporter Kevin Niedermier

Cleveland police officers will take the place of the city's red-light cameras, which voters rejected last week.

Courtesy of WKYC

Cleveland police officers will take the place of the city’s automated red-light cameras that residents voted out last week.

Police say a team of 17 officers in patrol cars armed with radar guns will now monitor areas where speeding and accidents are heaviest. Each officer will spend four hours at a location, then rotate to another.

Red-light camera opponent and City Councilman Zack Reed says the police redeployment confirms his contention that the devices were mainly to generate revenue.

LISTEN: Reed on redeployment

Other options:

MP3 Download (0:16)

“We can do striping, we can do better lighting; There are a lot of things we can do that relates to traffic safety in the city of Cleveland. Why do we believe taking $100 out of peoples’ pockets is the only way we can do traffic safety in the city of Cleveland?”

Last year, the city made about $6 million on red-light camera tickets. According to the contract with the camera company, the city does not have to pay for the devices if they are not operating and generating revenue.