Does exempting red-light camera program from Arizona boycott make L.A. City Council hyprocrites?

Despite a contracting boycott of Arizona prompted by the state's controversial immigration-enforcement policy, Los Angeles' red-light camera program was exempted and will carry on.


City Council members, stating that the Los Angeles Police Department backs the photo-enforcement program as a public safety matter, voted 13 to zero Wednesday to extend the multimillion-dollar agreement with Scottsdale-based American Traffic Solutions.

The current contract with the company, which operates cameras at more than 30 intersections in the city, would have expired next week, shutting down a traffic program that catches tens of thousands of red-light violators a year.

There have been no deaths from red-light-running accidents at affected intersections since cameras were installed, according to reports, but the LAPD's statistics show that about half of the 32 photo-enforced intersections have either had no change in accidents or an increase, said Councilwoman Janice Hahn.

Bidding for the new contract is expected to be opened next spring, and the city could find itself having to make the same decision. Besides the existing camera vendor, another top competitor is headquartered in Arizona as well.

Photo: Cameras help catch red-light-running and rolling right turns, raising money for cities. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants them used to catch speeders too to help raise even more much-needed funds. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times