Dec. 21--Chicago mayoral challengers Jesus "Chuy" Garcia and Ald. Bob Fioretti are calling for an immediate suspension of the city's red light camera program.
Citing a recent Tribune study that found the cameras fail to deliver safety benefits long claimed by City Hall, Garcia, a Cook County commissioner running against Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the Feb. 24 city election, said on Sunday that the city should stop ticketing drivers "until the red light camera can be justified."
"The simple fact is that all the money that was received from the red light tickets made this administration blind to their impact on drivers and residents," Garcia said at a news conference.
He called the cameras "a runaway program" and said a thorough investigation by an independent academic institution should be done to determine the effectiveness of the cameras.
"As mayor I would keep only those cameras that can be fully proven to have reduced accidents," Garcia said. "Those cameras that simply provide the city another way to pick our pocket should be shut down immediately."
In a statement, Fioretti, a city alderman, said the cameras were a result of "fraud."
"You can't balance the budget by giving away the public trust, and that's what the Emanuel administration has done with these cameras," said Fioretti, who plans to hold his own news conference Monday at City Hall. "The proof is right here in front of us that this system doesn't work and has been a burden on Chicagoans, and I will continue to work to lift it by eliminating this program."
Emanuel's top transportation officials said they would consider the Tribune findings in their ongoing evaluation of the program. But they defended its value, noting that the Tribune study shows the cameras do reduce right-angle crashes, known to be among the most dangerous.
Emanuel declined Tribune requests for an interview about the study before it was published. Chicago Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld did review the study. She said the city has never attempted a deep examination of the effectiveness of the largest automated enforcement program in the country, which has grown to more than 350 red light cameras and raised more than $500 million in $100 tickets since 2002. She also said the Emanuel administration, now in its fourth year, is attempting to fix a long-standing lack of oversight.
"So certainly, the study presents an interesting argument, something that we will be considering moving forward," Scheinfeld said in a Tribune interview. "But the fact is, the important thing I want to make sure that we get across here is that there are less deaths out there, there are less injuries out there and we are very encouraged by that."
