HARTFORD — The New Haven Board of Alders approved a proposal on Monday night to install red light and speed cameras in the city. There are 19 locations scouted to mount cameras that will constantly surveil motorists, pedestrians, and others.
"The ACLU of Connecticut cares about public safety, and has worked for years to raise awareness about the unintended consequences of constant police surveillance in red light cameras,” said Executive Director David McGuire. “Police surveillance ends up most hurting Black and Brown people and other people subjected to marginalization. Towns that install police surveillance cameras throughout Connecticut have most often been installed in places where more Black and Brown people live.”
The number of communities using red light cameras fell from 533 in 2012 to 430 in 2016, according to a 2017 report of the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Miami, city commissioners unanimously voted to stop using red light cameras in December of 2017, and the city of Rochester, New York stopped using its red light camera system in 2016 because it was disproportionately hurting people in low-income neighborhoods, according to the city’s mayor. In California alone, 60 communities have stopped using red light cameras, due partly to the increases in traffic accidents they have caused.
“There are racial justice issues and due process issues with red light cameras that are grounds for significant concern,” said McGuire. “We know red light cameras do not help with accident prevention or traffic calming, and present no strategic way to make cities safer or more modernized. What they do is benefit for-profit vendors and fail to promise the safety benefits and revenues municipalities need. New Haven needs to invest in policies and public safety solutions that make a difference in the quality of life of its residents.”
