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The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved the use of Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices ATESD (speed cameras) to capture the number, plate, date, time and location of a motor vehicle exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 miles per hour.
Citations will be sent within 60 days with $50 as the fine for the first violation and $75 thereafter. Tickets can be appealed.
The priority for the cameras was to reduce speeding near school locations. However, mention was made of their use for red light violations and who knows what else.
Apparently, the police department already uses technology for traffic safety including license plate readers.
But now Big Brother will be casting a wider net, it seems.
"I voted for First Selectman Camillo last November because I thought he promised NOT to implement speed cameras in Greenwich, but now I realize Fred is happy to keep chipping away at our rights. One day he's banning gas powered leaf blowers. Then the next think you know, he's going after free speech with his "anti hate" task force. I can only imagine what's next," said one concerned Greenwich resident.
Picking up on that theme, another Greenwich resident said, "How long before we have cameras everywhere, like China? Are the cameras meant to replace the physical presence of the Greenwich Police Department at school, like during drop-off and pick-up times? Will cameras be operating outside of school hours, too?"
"What's the constitutionality of speed cameras anyway? Don't they violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees a right to a fair and impartial trial? And what about the Sixth Amendment? Don't you have a right to confront the “witness” (the camera) or challenge its accuracy?" he continued.
Others pointed to a critic of speed cameras who was featured on PBS. The critic showed that in places like Chicago, the tickets and fines generated by speed cameras fall disproportionately on Black and brown residents.
There have been several court cases challenging the constitutionality of speed cameras, and it is still a topic of ongoing debate.
However, Connecticut municipalities have the option to install automated stoplight and speed cameras at local intersections under House Bill 5917, which was signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont in June 2023 and went into effect in October 2023.
