Red Light Camera Report

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   I have been denied my request for a public record.  I am trying to get a report entitled Redlight Offender Statistics from the Fremont Police.  It is accessible by the police via their on-line access to Redflex Traffic Systems database, but the police do not use it or access it, they say.  Since they do not own, use, prepare, or retain it, it is not a public record, they say.

I say, I am entitled to equal access, even if you choose not to use the report.  By the way, it is the one report where one can determine closely how many occurrences of "red-light-running" are actually right turns on red and how many occurrences are late entries in tenths of seconds.  The stats might prove embarrassing to police when it shows a majority of the $446 fines are for low speed right turns violations in fractions of a second and not for the flagrant straight-through's we want to police and penalize.

I have appealed my decision most recently with the Mayor and am awaiting another denial of my request.  I am looking for legal representation to get the police to grant my request.  I am disappointed that two public interest lawyers so far have said that I do not have a good argument, but I insist that I do.  The information is (1) available (2) easily accessible in electronic format (3) retained by the police or at least by Redflex a contractor providing police services and (4) does not contain private, personal, or confidential information.  I understand that attorney fees can be awarded for a successful appeal.

Fremont's contract with Redflex expires in June and this information would be important and timely.

Ideas?

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RogerJ Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New User Joined: 04/March/2010 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 4	Quote Reply Topic: Red Light Camera Report Posted: 04/March/2010 at 10:57pm
	I have been denied my request for a public record. I am trying to get a report entitled Redlight Offender Statistics from the Fremont Police. It is accessible by the police via their on-line access to Redflex Traffic Systems database, but the police do not use it or access it, they say. Since they do not own, use, prepare, or retain it, it is not a public record, they say. I say, I am entitled to equal access, even if you choose not to use the report. By the way, it is the one report where one can determine closely how many occurrences of "red-light-running" are actually right turns on red and how many occurrences are late entries in tenths of seconds. The stats might prove embarrassing to police when it shows a majority of the $446 fines are for low speed right turns violations in fractions of a second and not for the flagrant straight-through's we want to police and penalize. I have appealed my decision most recently with the Mayor and am awaiting another denial of my request. I am looking for legal representation to get the police to grant my request. I am disappointed that two public interest lawyers so far have said that I do not have a good argument, but I insist that I do. The information is (1) available (2) easily accessible in electronic format (3) retained by the police or at least by Redflex a contractor providing police services and (4) does not contain private, personal, or confidential information. I understand that attorney fees can be awarded for a successful appeal. Fremont's contract with Redflex expires in June and this information would be important and timely. Ideas?

Terry Francke Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group General Counsel, CalAware Joined: 08/July/2006 Posts: 268	Quote Reply Posted: 05/March/2010 at 8:34am
	If I were you my next step would be to request a copy of Fremont's contract with Redflex to determine just what information the department is entitled to access from the company. Without that information I think it becomes more difficult to make your case. Please let us know if you get a copy.

RogerJ Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New User Joined: 04/March/2010 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 4	Quote Reply Posted: 05/March/2010 at 1:11pm
	Fremont's current contract is attached. The URL for the contract in PDF format thanks to the editor of highwayrobbery.net website is http://www.fremontpolice.org/redlight/pdf/Redflex_Fremont_Contract.pdf Items in the contract which relate to information available to client cities can be found: Page 16 section 1.5 Confidential Information Page 17 section 1.10 Enforcement Documentation Page 21 Section 7.1 and 7.3 Page 23 Section 7.8.1, 7.8.2, and 7.8.3 I have actually talked with the traffic officer in another city who views camera videos and issues citations. He was able to call up the report I seek (for his city) while talking with me on the phone. No problem, just a few clicks of the mouse. Unfortunately, my local police are not as cooperative. Both cities are Redflex clients. I suspect Redflex may have put the word out to not give out this information since many jurisdictions made this report available and then late last year, virtually all "clammed up."

RogerJ Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New User Joined: 04/March/2010 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 4	Quote Reply Posted: 07/March/2010 at 12:45am
	< ="-" ="text/; =utf-8">< name="GENERATOR" ="Office.org 3.0 Win32">< ="text/"> Terry, To answer your question, the closest the contract gets to specifying what information the police dept is entitled to access is contain in section 7 of Exhibit A - Scope of Services (pgs 21-23). It specifies details of each violation: location, date, time, no. of seconds into the red, views of front, rear of vehicle, etc. Also, it lists that cities have access to Quarterly speed and volume reports and monthly reports using the Redflex System. Here is the URL for an exact copy of the report I am seeking. It is from an intersection of a different city, however. http://www.highwayrobbery.net/TrcDocsBurlingameLateTimesBarCharts2009AprJuly.pdf As you can see from this bar chart, that nearly all violations occurring in lane 3 after 2 seconds into red reflect right turns on red. This number taken together with the total of all violations will give the % of right turn violations vs. straight through violations. This and the totals of violations occurring under 1 second after light turns red will give the number of violations which do not, in fact, result in high likelihood of causing any serious accident and is the number which proponents would just as well not want divulged. I contend that this report is accessible and even though the police say they do not access the report, the information is accessed each time they view any violation. AND as long as the information is accessed AND the report is easily accessible, it should be accessible by me. Your thoughts? Roger