|
AFTER $1B
IN TICKETS AND 4 CORRUPTION INDICTMENTS, ILLINOIS SHOULD SHUTTER THE
RED-LIGHT CAMERA INDUSTRY
Illinois Policy Institute/
Austin Berg
With
a federal corruption probe burrowing deeper into Springfield, the
Illinois General Assembly has only one choice when it comes to the
future of a red-light camera industry that has infected nearly 100
communities statewide: shut it down. |
|
 Karen Finley was the head of an international tech company. She
left prison a little over a year ago, at age 60.
John Bills grew up in the patronage army of Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.
He now sits behind bars in Pensacola, Florida, where he will stay until 2024.
Martin O’Malley met Bills at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and later became
his “bag man,” for which he served a six-month prison stint.
And Martin Sandoval was an Illinois state senator. He now faces 13 years in
prison.
What do these four characters have in common? They all made dirty money on the
spread of red-light cameras throughout Chicago and its suburbs. And then they
got caught.
With a federal corruption probe burrowing deeper into Springfield, the Illinois
General Assembly has only one choice when it comes to the future of a red-light
camera industry that has infected nearly 100 communities statewide: shut it
down.
 Sandoval pleaded guilty Tuesday to taking $250,000 in bribes from red-light
camera company SafeSpeed LLC and others, as well as filing a false tax return.
Court documents show Sandoval accepted money under the table from SafeSpeed in
exchange for pushing bills in its favor and opposing bills that threatened the
industry’s interests.
He’s agreed to cooperate with federal investigators. So don’t be surprised if
additional charges pop up.
Sandoval’s was a familiar scene.
It was a remix of the 2016 red-light camera scandal in Chicago where Bills, a
former high-ranking transportation official, was sentenced to prison for taking
bribes to contract with a particular red-light camera vendor called Redflex.
Finley, the former CEO of Redflex, was charged with one count of conspiracy to
commit bribery. And O’Malley served time for funneling company perks to Bills,
including envelopes stuffed with cash and an Arizona condominium.
“Every bribe that is taken, every kickback that is tendered or received, every
amount of cash that is pocketed further erodes the rule of law,” U.S. District
Judge Virginia Kendall said at the time of Bills’ sentencing.
“It erodes faith in our government, and that takes years to rebuild.”
[ to
top of second column] |
So what have lawmakers learned?
For one, that the Bills scandal made Chicago too hot to touch, and
clouted players could make just as much money outside the city as
they did within.
Last year, the Illinois Policy Institute published the first-ever
comprehensive analysis of red-light cameras throughout the state. It
found the devices had taken nearly $1.1 billion from drivers from
2008-2018 – equivalent to one $100 ticket every 33 seconds. It also
showed that while Chicago cameras have been on the decline since
Bills’ arrest in 2014, the number of cameras outside the city have
increased every year.
Fewer than 90 cameras outside Chicago generating a total of $5.4
million a year in 2008 ballooned to more than 300 cameras generating
more than $56 million a year by 2018 – just as much cash as the
Chicago cameras.
That’s where Sandoval made his dirty money.
But while it’s clear corruption runs rampant, did these cameras make
communities safer?
Claims of the cameras’ safety benefits have been challenged by
studies showing they increase rear-end crashes when drivers slam on
the brakes, making them a wash. Further, a 2017 Chicago Tribune
report found more than half of camera projects approved by the
Illinois Department of Transportation were at safe intersections,
according to the department’s own criteria.
So now local governments are changing their argument: it’s actually
about the money, and they can’t afford to lose it.
What’s truly unaffordable? Continuing to allow a program with few
proven safety benefits and a track record of corruption to keep
hitting up drivers for millions of dollars.
Eleven states nationwide don’t allow red-light cameras to issue
tickets. And the number of communities using them is down 35% from
their peak in 2012.
A bipartisan bill in Springfield pushed by Republican state Rep.
David McSweeney, House Bill 322, would ban red-light cameras in
non-home-rule communities. It’s attracted a dozen additional
sponsors since Sandoval’s guilty plea.
Get to work. Take them down.
Click here to respond to the editor about this article
|
