February 23, 2005

Public Roundtable on Police Utilization of Red Light and Speed Cameras

Charles H. Ramsey
Chief of Police
Metropolitan Police Department

Chief Charles H. Ramsey delivered the following statement to the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee on the Judiciary, The Honorable Phil Mendelson ,Chair, on February 23, 2005, at the Council Chamber, John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

• Download* a printable version of the testimony

Chairperson Mendelson, members of the Committee, staff and guests–I thank you for the opportunity to report on the Metropolitan Police Department’s use of photo enforcement technology in our city. As is my custom, the complete text of my statement is posted on the Department’s website: mpdc.dc.gov.

Looking back over the past six years–and analyzing the most recent data on our program–I can report that automated traffic enforcement in the District of Columbia is making our roadways and our neighborhoods safer for motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists and residents in general. Since the implementation of this innovative traffic safety program, fewer motorists in DC are running red lights, fewer motorists are speeding aggressively and, most important of all, fewer people are being killed in traffic crashes–in particular, traffic crashes caused by speeding.

Credit for the success of our program goes to many people: the DC Council, for passing one of the country’s most progressive automated traffic enforcement bills back in 1990s; the men and women of the Metropolitan Police Department, for designing and managing a program that is fair, effective and fiscally responsible; other District of Columbia government agencies–the Departments of Motor Vehicles, Transportation, Traffic Adjudication and others–for providing assistance in areas such as signs, engineering support and adjudication; a vendor that has been responsive to our needs and the needs of the motoring public; and, of course, DC residents and community leaders, who have steadfastly supported the program and encouraged the use of technology to make their neighborhoods safer.

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