> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Cameras to be installed at city intersections - URL: https://www.smdp.com/cameras-to-be-installed-at-city-intersections/ - Published: 2001-12-26T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-22T22:33:57.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Police want to cut down on red light violations* *By CHRIS YOUNG Special to the Daily Press* If you run a red light in Santa Monica you can expect a photo of yourself and a ticket in the mail. Santa Monica will join 23 communities in California that have installed cameras at intersections to catch motorists in the act. The automated systems are gaining popularity because they decrease accidents at intersections, officials say. They also have drawn the attention of critics — not only because the companies that install them get a cut on the citation payments, but because they are an invasion of privacy, some argue. In one instance, a red light camera company had taken a 25 percent cut on each citation, motivating it to set up the system so it would issue more tickets. Some people in Los Angeles have protested their tickets, arguing the cameras cannot determine whether or not the driver was in the middle of the intersection before the light turned red. But city officials say they plan to avoid problems that other cities have faced, said Captain Jacqueline Seabrooks of the Santa Monica Police Department. “A lot of research still has to be done — the city council has to approve the vendor; the SMPD needs to set up internal protocols to monitor the program, interface with city departments, and get public input, as well,” Seabrooks said. Complaints about red light camera systems have come from groups like the ACLU, who say the cameras could be used for surveillance, an invasion of citizens’ privacy. “We are concerned that these cameras will be used for other purposes, and it’s classically true that surveillance techniques created for one purpose are rarely restricted to that purpose,” said ACLU associate director Barry Steinhardt in an Associated Press article this year. Seabrooks acknowledged the privacy concerns. “We tend to disagree with (the surveillance implications,)” Seabrooks said. “Surveillance has an ongoing future-oriented implication. What to do with that Christmas fruitcake This RLC system captures violations that have already occurred. There isn’t ongoing monitoring.” Seabrooks said photos taken will stay on police file the same duration as a normal traffic citation — seven years — but can only be viewed by the offender or law enforcement on a need-to-know basis. Santa Monica police officers will review the pictures and confirm the driver has run a red light. A citation and photographs of the violation will be mailed to the motorist. The person can then pay the fine, go to traffic school, or contest the citation. The camera systems detect when a car enters an intersection after the light has turned red and takes pictures of the car, license plate, and driver. Some systems take a picture of the intersection showing the red light. The police department will select the camera manufacturer from three bids — Affiliated Computer Services, Redflex, and Nestor Systems. Affiliated Computer Services was involved in a lawsuit earlier this year in San Diego over its camera system. The company received $70 for every $271 citation, undermining the company’s neutrality, according to a San Diego Superior Court judge. “We look at what the San Diego court found problematic, mostly police administrative issues, and we’ll reduce the potential for problems by working with the city attorney’s office, transportation management, and other city departments,” Seabrooks said. The camera system won’t be autonomously run by the vendor, but operational aspects will be shared between the police department, the transportation management department and the vendor, added Seabrooks. Jay Stanley, privacy coordinator with the American Civil Liberties Union, said there should be no conflicts of interest with red light camera systems. Revenue generated by the system should not go to the company that installs or maintains the cameras, as in the San Diego case, nor specific divisions of the city government, he said. An independent auditing body should be able to evaluate the system, Stanley added. “As part of a broader problem, if we’re going to automate law-making functions, how do we do it in a fair way?" said Stanley. Seabrooks said the police department will choose the camera vendor within 90 days, and then decide which intersections will have the cameras by evaluating collision data on the city’s intersections, traffic density, and other factors. The vendor will be chosen by the SMPD, the Santa Monica transportation management office, and the city attorney’s office. Tentatively, three or four Santa Monica intersections will have cameras installed within the next year and a half. Lincoln Boulevard, Cloverfield Boulevard and Colorado Avenue are likely corridors for the cameras, Seabrooks said. Who will pay for the system has not yet been determined, but the funding source may come from the city budget, a grant, or a loan from the camera company. It’s is too early to know the system’s cost, Seabrooks added. Red light camera systems decrease red light violations and associated accidents, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, who conducted a study of the cameras in Oxnard, Calif. The SMPD has looked at camera systems in Oxnard, Ventura, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and Irvine, to see how they run their systems. The insurance institute study on the Oxnard camera system said the number of crashes at intersections city-wide had a “significant” decrease after the cameras were installed at 11 of Oxnard’s 125 intersections. Injury accidents at intersections with traffic signals dropped 29 percent after installing the cameras. The insurance institute said 79 percent of Oxnard residents approved of the cameras. A Santa Monica resident satisfaction survey in November 2000 found that 60 percent of residents were in favor of a camera program and 37 percent were opposed to the idea. Seabrooks said there will be an educational campaign about the cameras, with a 30-day "grace" period after the cameras are installed to increase awareness of the dangers of running a red light. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/122601-02_01.jpg) Benjamin Bright, of Venice, swings around the beach this past weekend. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 26, 2001.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/122601.pdf?ref=smdp.com)