My Favorite Topic: Automated Enforcement

Here's how they work in Florida:

Quoted from the article.

1.  poised to expand a red-light-camera program that has raked in $1 million for the city in 14 months...(by adding) five cameras to four intersections, which could catch 1,680 more violations per month  
2. It also costs police officers' time because they review the tapes before issuing citations. Only two officers can use the system at once, and the process was eating up three-fourths of their hours. (note: Want a little cheese with that whine?)
3.  commissioners are also looking to hire two community service officers at $55,000 apiece to administer the red-light cameras. (note: at HALF the cost of LEOs {Law Enforcement Officers})
4.  city staff believe the program can be run for a profit 
5.  "We don't know how many lives it may have saved," said Barry Atwood, Boynton Beach finance director. 
6. Police Chief Matt Immler said that "overall, traffic accidents have not gone down." 

What can be said? Accidents aren't  reduced, lives aren't saved, there aren't enough officers to review all the tapes so they are deputizing civilians to "administer" the program. They're not even sure if the program can generate net revenue (be profitable).

I know, the whole sham is about revenue. It's a back door tax imposed without our approval. I understand it fully, but that doesn't mean I like it. And I hate that it forces my elected officials to lie to me, with both of us knowing, nodding and winking.

Finally, if it were truly about safety, they would have repeatable, statistically significant studies showing reduced accidents, reduced injuries, and the insurance companies would show reduced rates in those cities with effective safety programs.