Oct 22, 2006 9:35 am US/Central
Mpls. Wants 'PhotoCop' Decision Overturned
State Supreme Court Will Hear Arguments To Reinstate 'Stop On Red' Traffic Cams
Minneapolis (AP) ―
The city of Minneapolis is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision against the traffic-enforcement program that used cameras to nab cars running red lights.
City Council member Paul Ostrow said Saturday that the program was effective at reducing accidents.
"We're petitioning for a review by the Supreme Court because the city believes it has the authority to operate those cameras," Ostrow said.
The Stop on Red program, also known as PhotoCop, started in July 2005. It was halted in March when Hennepin County Judge Mark Wernick declared it invalid because it presumed the owner of the photographed vehicle was driving.
The American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the law.
During the first six months that the PhotoCop program was in operation, the city said it resulted in a 16 percent drop in accidents at monitored intersections.
A separate lawsuit was filed in May by two people who each paid $142 fines after they were photographed driving through red lights at one of the 12 accident-prone intersections.
That lawsuit claims the city received nearly $2 million in fines from the program and asks that the money be used to reimburse the thousands of vehicle owners who were tagged. The city says it collected closer to $1.5 million, and used half of the money to pay the company that provided the cameras.
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The program costs $965,000 a year. Police say they expect fines will cover the cost.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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