Show Intention of Radar Photo-Radar is In Question Gerald Narciso t Contributing g Writer Writ r Imagine opening your mail and seeing a picture of your car driving down 15 1 with a ticket attached to it Surprise you just got caught speeding by a photo- photo radar camera After calming down you probably inspect the ticket even further and notice a time date and location location location loca loca- tion of the time of the viola viola- tion You scratch your head and gently ponder to yourself yourself yourself your your- self Wow this was dated two weeks ago You have got gotto to be kidding me Relax for now at least Unless you live with our great neighbors to the north Canada you can probably return back to your regular speeding routine technology The radar photo-radar gy has been keeping Canadian streets safe for over 15 years Or have they Many of Canadas Canada's citizens have started to question the intention of this technological cal phenomenon Was it put into place to reduce accidents accidents accidents acci acci- dents or is it a scheme for police departments to earn earr extra revenue Sound far far- i h Jr fetched Consider Consi facts In Edmonton Alberta the police department have partnered up with the Dallas- Dallas based company ACS Affiliated Computer Systems for radar photo-radar equipment ACS provided it for an annual fee of as well as 1525 per speeding ticket and 31 per red light violation In 2003 alone ACS pocketed an astronomical 32 mil mil- lion With that sort of money being generated suspicion ison is ison ison on the rise within the Edmonton community article article article arti arti- In an Edmonton Sun cle accusations of Edmonton Police Officers receiving gifts and even trips from ACS representatives have recently surfaced Of course all accusations have been denied and have yet to tobe tobe tobe be proven an external investigation investigation investigation is reportedly underway underway underway under under- way But the theory that Edmonton police officers would get some sort of incentive for citing as many tickets as possible makes make perfect sense Take car care of f mv j b i those thos who h are re taking taki i care care fe of o of you Right So why haven't American police departments reaped the benefits of this technology gy yet In some states such as Arizona California Oregon and DC D.C. there are currently current current- radar photo-radar systems ly in use Colorado had used radar photo-radar in the recent past but suspended it last year after similar suspicions and accusations as Edmonton arose If there were similar practices practices practices tices going in the United States the technology would never last Americans have enough problems with the way their police departments conducts their business this wouldn't help their cause Second if there were some corrupt practices going on Dateline would have them exposed by this years year's April Sweeps On the other hand the technology is not accusing you of something you never accurately accurately accurately did The radar photo-radar catches people speeding speeding speeding speed speed- ing leaving very little room to debate And some studies s suggest that the tech lo y vj i Lne L- L streets in safer the l ne ps' ps xee l S fi In I a 2002 study in the District of Columbia average average average aver aver- age speeds declined by an average of 14 percent and people speeding over 10 mph decreased by an overwhelming overwhelm overwhelm- ing 82 percent And believe it or not there is actually a positive for drivers If you do receive a ticket in the mail your insurance will not rise since the photo does not show who was driving The accuracy of the radar was never put into question it was the intention Anytime a cut or percentage of a ticket goes into somebody's somebody's somebody's some some- body's pocket the photo- photo radar is no longer a safety tool but rather a business i tool Ontario had gotten rid I in 1995 of the technology but is considering bringing it I Iback back for economic reason Amongst the fire of controversy controversy con con- I comes an important decision to be made soon The contract is up at the endSee end endSee I See Highway continued on page 9 I ft bV n 1 Highway cont from page 7 of this year and city officials officials officials have to decide whether to renew it Angry are fighting the technology that could cost the ACS millions of dollars a projected 90 million million million mil mil- lion to be exact Whatever is decided I should mean very little to Unless they frequently frequently frequently fre fre- visit Canada highly unlikely or own stock in ACS it doesn't really matter to them With the war economy economy economy econ econ- omy and the Jazz out of the playoffs for the second year in a row have enough to worry about Going to your mailbox shouldn't be one of them i i |