Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken says he would veto any ordinance by City Council to install cameras at intersections to catch red-light runners, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I think it’s Big Brother. I think it’s an invasion of privacy,” Luken said a week after City Council voted 6-3 to seek proposals from camera makers. “I am troubled by the installation of cameras by government to watch our every step.” The council can override a veto with six votes.
City Manager Valerie Lemmie proposed the cameras in March as a way to make some intersections safer, while possibly increasing revenue. In Dayton, cameras helped reduce crashes at intersections 60 percent from the previous year and tickets have generated $175,200, paying for new police cruisers. Councilman David Pepper, who chairs the Law and Public Safety Committee and backed cameras as a way to concentrate police resources on fighting violent crime, said Luken should have raised his concerns long before now.
Link: http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/08/13/loc_redlights13.html