Rahm Emanuel’s plan to turn Chicago into a network of spy cameras and turn his back on motorists and taxpayers just got a major boost today from Governor Pat Quinn.

Even though the so-called “Speed Camera Retrofitting” bill was opposed by major media outlets in Chicago and 9 out of 10 Illinois residents [report], Quinn retreated from pressure by Emanuel and signed the bill into law.

The 190 red light cameras in Chicago have all been authorized to be “upgraded” to also issue photo tickets based on speed. In a city with multiple intersections that have 2.5 second yellow light times, dangerously below federal minimum standards, don’t be surprised to see speed limits lowered or changed to confuse drivers in order to drive up revenue.

The new law also allows each municipality to set whatever guidelines they choose for what constitutes a speed violation, meaning that going 46 MPH in a 45 zone could get you a $100.00 fine, depending on where you’re being video-recorded by Redflex cameras.

In addition to the upgraded combo cameras, this law also allows for new speed cameras and mobile vans to be deployed, which could quickly turn 70% of the city into a surveillance zone, according to the text of the bill.

Mayor Emanuel is calling them “safety zones,” but what’s safe about expanding the operation of a company, Redflex, best known for fraud, employees driving their vans under the influence of alcohol, child pornography, unsafe workplaces and ignoring their own citations?

Governor Pat Quinn will quickly realize his mistake, but it will probably take at least a couple years to reverse course, as it did in Arizona, if the cameras start to be installed and retrofitted.

IL Governor Pat Quinn looks up at his new master, the speed camera.

They are calling them “safety zones,” but they’ll cover near 70% of the city of Chicago according to a report by The Chicago Sun Times below.

This map outlines the consequences of a bill that just passed through both houses of Illinois legislature. If Governor Quinn signs off on this monster, the bulk of the city of Chicago will become eligible for surveillance by a profit driven, corrupt foreign corporation, Redflex Traffic Systems. This is clearly not about safety.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is using the excuse that the safety of the children of his city is at stake, but he fails to address anything about signal timing in the intersections where red light cameras currently take 24/7 video surveillance.

Unfortunately, nobody has even asked him the question, which takes Emanuel and the rest of the camera pushers off the hook. Chicago’s 2.5 second yellow lights lead to more erratic driving and accidents than any other factor, but if they were extended to a safe 4.0-4.5 seconds, the camera systems would become unprofitable.

Instead of addressing the overall signal timing issue, which could also explain accidents involving pedestrians that Emanuel keeps using as a scapegoat for creating a surveillance zone encircling his entire city.

It looks like a fairly good possibility that these “safety zones” will be coming to a Chicago neighborhood near you. The backlash will be enormous, but in the mean time, Redflex and Rahm will rake in the dough by the barrel full. 

by CameraFRAUD

Rahm Emanuel’s speed camera bill, also known as HB-3851 in the Illinois Legislature has no threshold for speed written into it. (HB-3851)

What this means is that a “violation” of just 1 MPH over the speed limit could end up costing Chicago motorists $100.00.

Redflex, who would be the contractor for the speed cameras in Chicago and all over Illinois, for that matter, is notorious for ticketing drivers in their home country of Australia for going less than 6 MPH (10 kilometers/hr).

Not only is the bill loosely worded enough for such low margins for “speeding,” but it leaves it up for each individual city to decide. Chicago is already known for their illegally short yellow light times, so would they really be able to resist having the lowest speed tolerance in the U.S.?

Are you ready for photo tickets for driving 46 in a 45 zone? 

by CameraFRAUD

Chicago is the so-called “Red Light Camera Capitol” of the United States. Their residents would be hard-pressed to argue with that title.

But now, Mayor Emanuel wants to add speed cameras to the Windy City’s repertoire of revenue extractors despite his promise over the summer that he wouldn’t “nickel and dime taxpayers.”

What do you call using a proven boondoggle like speed cameras and lying to the public that it’s about safety when they’ve seen that the red light cameras are anything but?

Chicago is notorious for its dangerously short yellow light times at camera intersections, as low as 2.5 seconds, which some would call criminal negligence. If you really had safety in mind, Rahm, you’d have that problem fixed first and forget about adding more Big Brother to your streets.

The Chicago Tribune wrote about two city alderman who would oppose this publicly announced plan by the Emanuel Regime:

“I think it’s piling on. It’s really kind of draconian,” said Ald. Joe Moore, 49th. “The jury is still out on whether the red-light cameras are effective in terms of safety. … So then it really becomes a revenue-raising tool, rather than a public safety tool, and I think there are more honest ways of raising money.”

Red-light camera fines were worth nearly $45 million to the city as of 2008. About 790,000 drivers got red-light tickets in 2009.

Aldermen eventually acknowledged the cameras were a way to raise revenue during tough financial times. Ald. Edward Burke wondered whether the public-safety deterrent aspect of the red-light cameras was “a myth.”

“It’s a money machine, that’s all. Period,” said Burke, 14th, in March 2010.

It would be up to state legislature in Springfield to allow Chicago’s camera pushers to farm out more of their law enforcement to machines, so it’s hard to say  if they will ultimately get their way.

Better save all your nickels and dimes Chicagoans, just in case.

by CameraFRAUD