(Note:  All it takes is just one resident to say "WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH".  If you want to start a petition drive in your communtity let us know.  WE WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SPREAD THE NEWS!)

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100407/NEWS01/4080327/Charter+amendment+would+ban+speed+camera

Charter amendment would temper speed camera
By Eric Bradley • This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. • April 7, 2010

Comments (46) Recommend Print this page ShareThis Font size:AA HAMILTON - The sun shined brightly, the wind whipped fiercely and the motorists at rush hour at Ohio 4 and High Street were aware or unaware they may soon be caught speeding and ticketed by a police speed-enforcement camera.

Jim Berns, a Libertarian Ohio 1st Congressional District candidate, was aware, and he was at the busy intersection protesting Hamilton's decision last week to start using the device.

Berns of College Hill, a candidate for a district that does not include Hamilton, had his own reasons for being there.

"I don't care where you are, freedom and liberty needs to be defended," Berns said. He is planning a petition drive to get a city charter amendment on the ballot to effectively stop the use of the speed-trap camera.

The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ensures that an individual accused of a crime has the opportunity "to be confronted with the witnesses against him."

What happens when the accuser has no eyes, but a lens, and no voice, but stored electronic memory?

"If a machine gives you a ticket, what are you going to do, go up and swear at it?" Berns asked.

Hamilton is the first community in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky to use the device, though Cincinnati voters passed a charter amendment that ruled them out.

The city police department is using the system in a new, unmanned SUV supplied by Arizona-based Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. at no cost. In exchange for the equipment and administration, Redflex gets part of a $95 fine collected from violators. The city gets 52 percent.Faced with budget difficulties, Hamilton police have cut 25 street officers and said the program is meant to save lives.

Studies cited by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety suggest the cameras work, noting that in Maryland, Arizona and Washington, D.C., there was a 70 percent to 95 percent reduction in drivers exceeding speed limits by at least 10 mph in targeted areas. Hamilton's traffic camera, which will be parked at problem locations in the city, is rigged to photograph vehicles traveling at least 9 mph above the speed limit.

(Note:   reports like Tfl 595 show speed cameras DON'T improve safety:  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/06/602.asp.  A REPORT THAT WAS HIDDEN BY THE GOVT THERE!)

Registered owners of offending vehicles are now receiving warning letters, police said, and ticketing will begin May 1.

Then, violators can pay the fine, sign an affidavit saying they weren't driving or request a hearing to fight the ticket. The ticket is not put on the vehicle owner's state driving record and is not reported to insurance companies.

The whole process irritates Wayne Parker, 71, a Hamilton resident for 69 years who was Bern's partner-in-protesting.

"The burden of proof is on me to prove I was not driving," Parker said.

Gary Daniels, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, agreed.

"It sort of turns due process on its head," he said.

The camera technology can also be used as a larger instrument of surveillance that should be of concern to anyone interested in citizen privacy, Daniels said.

Recently, police in Summit County in northeast Ohio used a Homeland Security grant to help buy a system that scans license plates to help officers find stolen cars or those that may have been involved in a crime.

According to the Butler County Board of Elections, 1,673 signatures are needed in Hamilton to get a charter amendment to a vote.

"It's going to take more than two of us," Berns said as he and Parker held signs on the street corner and passing motorists honked their horns.

Staff writer Janice Morse contributed.
 

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