(Photo 159869519 © Viorel Margineanu | Dreamstime.com)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

RETURNS TO COUNCIL SEPT. 3

Council to explore photo radar alternatives after receiving report

Aug 6, 2024 | 8:00 PM

In the regular city council meeting on August 6, council received a report regarding the value and effectiveness of the City’s Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) program.

The report presented to council focused primarily on the use of photo radar for speed enforcement and potential future alternatives, such as switching to enforcement through Community Peace Officers (CPO).

“The one thing I really have to emphasize and highlight is photo radar is having a really positive impact on traffic safety, which is also a key component of community safety,” said John Ferguson, manager of municipal police services for the city.

He added, however, that there are limitations to how effective it can be due to: a lack of immediate impact, as tickets are received days after an incident occurs; the fact that it can account for speeding but no other violations; and restrictions imposed by the provincial government about where these cameras can be used.

The report also indicated that 21 per cent of violations don’t have tickets issued due to improper license plate capture by the cameras, or other issues.

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Ferguson and the protective services team presented a switch to enforcement via Community Peace Officers as an alternative option. By using CPO’s, Ferguson said the City could deploy officers wherever they are needed rather than being restricted to radar-permitted locations, officers could address a greater range of traffic violations, and it would provide a visual deterrent to other drivers and provide immediate consequences.

“We don’t want to get rid of it without there being a replacement because it is important, but recognizing that it might have come to the end of its time in terms of effectiveness because of a multitude of factors, we wanted to present another option to council,” said Ferguson. He added, “Either we do it through technology, or we do it conventionally.”

To put this option into measurable practice, Ferguson’s team performed a pilot in the spring of 2024 to compare CPO and photo radar enforcement. One peace officer’s shifts were dedicated to traffic enforcement from January to April. In this time, a single photo radar van issued 1182 tickets while the CPO issued 1173.

“What’s also important to know, is of all those tickets that were issued, 29 per cent were actually for speeding, 30 per cent for operating without registration, and 40 per cent for other offences. So again, it speaks to the versatility of deploying CPO’s,” said Ferguson.

The report stated that, based on the pilot, projected revenue and expenses for a CPO-based approach could be cost-neutral and support broader traffic safety initiatives with no additional investments required.

A potential cost-to-revenue breakdown of what CPO enforcement might look like, based on pilot numbers. (Protective Services/City of Red Deer)

The City currently contracts photo radar work through a third-party and pays a portion of the fees associated with sending the tickets; the City provides the vans used to move the cameras across locations.

Ferguson said that he understands why residents may be under the impression that photo radar is a “cash cow” for the city, but the reality is “we’ve actually been generating less revenue than what our costs are, so it’s never been about revenue for us. With policing, you’re not in a revenue generating environment, our goal has always been public safety and that is where our focus is.”

Average costs and revenue associated with photo radar enforcement based on the last three years.(Protective Services/City of Red Deer)

On a similar note, City Manager Tara Lodewyk said that in April of 2020, the Provincial Government increased its share of fine revenue to 41.67 per cent from 26.7 per cent, which has had an impact on the program’s financial considerations.

Currently, there are 191 enforcement areas that the City rotates throughout the year, choosing and announcing a few key locations each month. Last year, the ATE program issued 5700 tickets total. By June of this year there were 4500 issued.

Related: August traffic enforcement locations

The issue will return to council for further direction on September 3, ahead of the official budget debate in November. More detailed options will be presented to council then, including considerations of how this may impact the RCMP workload, as individuals with warrants or other serious violations would be outside of a CPO’s jurisdiction and require backup.

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