July 31, 2012 05:18 PM UTC

More Bad News for Denver's Red-Light Cameras

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• by: Colorado Pols

If Denver drivers weren’t angry enough about being constantly watched by the city’s much-maligned red-light and speed cameras, they’ll certainly be incensed to learn that many city employees haven’t had to pay the bill for their own on-the-clock violations.

From an investigation by 9Wants to Know:

DENVER – A 9Wants to Know investigation has discovered hundreds of unpaid photo-speed-van and red-light-camera violation notices given to Denver city employees while driving city cars…

Most city agencies have a policy that requires employees to pay for red-light and photo-speed citations issued while they are driving a city vehicle.

When a city car gets captured, most departments send the notice of violation to the employee’s boss. The supervisor is supposed to ask the employee to pay. Even when that happens, 9Wants to Know found supervisors don’t always follow up to make sure the citation is paid.

There is no citywide policy requiring this.

That’s something Denver Mayor Michael Hancock says should be reviewed.

After learning of our investigation, Hancock ordered a review of policies at each city department.

It’s a little ridiculous that there isn’t already a uniform policy on this, considering that Denver operates a fleet of official vehicles ranging from garbage trucks and police cruisers to take-home vehicles for city officials.

After all, if a city has both cars and red-light cameras, doesn’t it stand to reason that eventually the two will come into contact?

Denver Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz appears as flummoxed as everybody else:

“I was really surprised when you told me this,” Faatz told 9Wants to Know investigative reporter Jace Larson.

She says all city employees should have to pay for their citations.

“I know of no language that says the police department shouldn’t have to pay or that the city employees shouldn’t have to pay. Unless there is legal authorization, it appears to me that the first order of business should be that the employee pays the ticket,” she said.

Faatz is correct, the Denver City Council can easily solve this particular problem: require city employees driving city vehicles to foot the bill for recorded traffic violations. Still, it’s a bit of an legislative oversight that there isn’t an existing ordinance to regulate something otherwise governed by common sense.

The fact that there isn’t, of course, only makes Denver’s defense of the reviled cameras that much more difficult in the wake of Auditor Dennis Gallagher’s scathing assessment that it “undermines public trust to maintain photo enforcement programs that are profitable but whose safety impact has not been conclusively shown.”

It’s safe to assume that public trust is also undermined when government employees can effectively breeze through red lights scot-free.