Vote may decide fate of cameras
NAACP to petition to restrict use unless police officers present.
Dayton’s automated red light and speed cameras aren’t even issuing fines yet, but already they face an uncertain future.
The Dayton Unit NAACP plans to start circulating a petition to put a measure on next year’s ballot that would restrict use of the devices to only those times when a police officer is present, said Derrick Foward, the Dayton Unit’s president.
The Dayton NAACP opposes automated traffic cameras for economic justice reasons and wants city voters to decide whether or not they should be allowed to operate, Foward said.
The least affluent communities in Montgomery County have automated traffic cameras, and it’s unfair that the local residents who can least afford to pay fines live in areas where these cameras are being placed, Foward said.
“Let’s put it out the ballot and let voters make the decision,” Foward said. “If the voters say,
want thecameras,’ then so be it ... but at least the people have had an opportunity to speak.”
Dayton’s elected leaders, however, have strongly defended using automated traffic cameras, saying they alter dangerous driving behaviors and reduce crashes.
Asked about traffic cameras at an NAACP candidate forum last month, Dayton City Commissioner Joey Williams said he’s reviewed crash data and without question they make the city’s roadways safer.
“The data is overwhelmingly in support of the fact that with the cameras, we have lower incidents and safer streets,” he said.
“Without cameras, those issues went up.”
Dayton recently started installing automated red light and speed-detection cameras at five locations across the city.
The city for years had a traffic camera program but shelved it in 2015 after state lawmakers imposed tough new restrictions on the devices.
But Dayton can once again cite motorists using automated cameras because the Ohio Supreme Court struck down provisions of a state law requiring police to be present while the devices are in operation, documenting traffic violations.
The city says it uses cameras for safety first and foremost and not for revenue.
Vehicle crashes increased 40 percent in Dayton after the cameras were turned off, officials said, and last year there more than 4,000 crashes on Dayton roads, resulting in more than 1,000 injuries and 31 fatalities.
“Camera enforcement is very effective in reducing accidents in high-risk areas,” “said Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl.
But Dayton NAACP members voted in support of circulating petitions for a ballot initiative restricting how and when traffic cameras can be operated to issue citations, Foward said.
The group will help collect signatures with the goal of putting a charter amendment on the November 2018 ballot.
The city charter says a successful petition must contain the signatures of 10 percent of the total number of registered voters in the city of Dayton, according to the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
The amendment would require police officers to be stationed at the cameras when they are photographing vehicles that are driving too fast or running red lights, Foward said.
The three Montgomery County communities that have used red light and speed cameras all have median incomes below $40,000, Foward said. They also have the highest rates of poverty and highest shares of residents without health insurance in the county, he said.
More affluent communities, like Oakwood and Springboro, do not use traffic cameras even though they have plenty of roadways where crashes occur and motorists do not always obey the traffic laws, Foward said.
Some local communities that have used cameras in the past, such as West Carrollton, have not chosen to restart their programs.
After the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling in July, West Carrollton City Council discussed the issue but hasn’t changed its position and has taken no action to re-instate the program, according to City Manager Brad Townsend.
Foward said the Dayton Unit NAACP is concerned about safety, just like the city of Dayton.
But, he said, many residents cannot afford to pay expensive fines, and failure to pay can lead to bigger troubles, like having vehicles towed and impounded.
Foward said if the ballot initiative passes, the city can still use traffic cameras, as long as police are present.
He said the Dayton Police Department can use its resources selectively and strategically to target dangerous intersections at the times and dates when crashes are most likely to occur.
Commissioner Williams said Dayton uses automated cameras when other suburban communities do not because it is the urban center in the region and has more serious and pressing law enforcement issues and limited resources.
He said the city wants its police officers focused on preventing and fighting the types of crime most concerning to citizens, and automated cameras free up police resources.
Dayton City Commissioner Jeff Mims Jr. also recently said traffic studies show that the automated cameras make motorists slow down and drive more carefully.
“We made a very conscious-driven decision because we thought the lives of Dayton’s citizens — and I still do — are more important than (inconveniencing) the occasional individual who violate the law,” he said.
‘Camera enforcement is very effective ...’ Richard Biehl Dayton Police Chief