'Spy' cameras net a $3.3 million haul

By Tarron Lively

Originally published 12:06 a.m., May 8, 2006, updated 12:00 a.m., May 8, 2006

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The Metropolitan Police Department collected a record $3.3 million in fines from its automated speed cameras in March — increasing the five-year-old program's total revenue to more than $100 million.

The amount marks the first time that the program has collected more than $3 million in monthly revenues, even though only 2.2 percent of more than 3 million vehicles monitored in March were cited for speeding, according to police statistics.

The percentage was near 30 percent when the program began in 2001. The percentage in March was the second lowest for a month, with the lowest at 2 percent in February.

Critics of the program say the department is attempting to monitor more vehicles to catch more speeders as their percentages decrease.

Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said there are no plans to scale back the program, despite the steady decrease of motorists caught speeding.

"I would like to see [the program] expanded, or at least stay the same," Chief Ramsey said. "Traffic enforcement isn't something you do on occasion. It must be kept up."

The program began with six cruisers outfitted with cameras and now has 10 cameras at fixed locations and 12 camera-equipped vehicles rotating through nearly 80 enforcement zones.

The speed-camera program is part of the District's expanding automated traffic-enforcement strategy that has collected more than $138 million since 1999. The city's 49 red-light cameras have generated more than $35 million, including $5.2 million last year.

The speed cameras have generated more than $103 million in fines since they were first deployed. Last year, police collected a record $28.9 million, despite briefly curtailing surveillance of the Anacostia Parkway in the summer, which caused revenue to drop sharply for several months. The revenue goes into the city's general fund.

Chief Ramsey dismissed the likely backlash from the revenue increasing as the percentage of speeding motorists decreases.

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