Cath. City Docs - Main Page - Red Light Cams

Some of Cathedral City's tickets can possibly be ignored. If your "ticket" does not have the Superior Court's name and address on it, it is what I call a "Snitch Ticket." For more details, see the Snitch Ticket section on the Your Ticket page.
If your Cathedral City ticket is a real one (not a Snitch Ticket), be sure to contact me.

Do you live in LA County? Was Zev Yaroslavsky your County Supervisor? (He represented the Third District, which includes the central and western San Fernando Valley, Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice, Beverly Hills, the City of West Hollywood, and part of Hollywood.)

During her career in the California Legislature, Kuehl made three attempts to pass bills to allow the use of automated speed enforcement (photo radar) in California.

This table made by highwayrobbery.net, using official documents obtained under the California Public Records Act.
[ ] indicates a footnote.

Official reports, 2008 - 2009
Official reports, 2009 - 2012
Official reports, 2012 - 2013
Official reports, 2013 - 2014
Official reports, 2014 early
Official reports, 2013 & 2014 annual
Official reports, 2014 - 2015
Official reports, 2010 - 2015
Official reports, 2015 - 2016
Official reports, 2016 mid
Official reports, 2016 late
Official reports, 2016 - 2017
Official reports, 2017 - 2018

[1] These totals were provided by the City.
[2] These totals, annual totals, and annual projections, are by highwayrobbery.net. The projection for 2018 is based upon Jan. - May only.
[3] Un-used columns are to allow for later expansion of City's system.
[4] Any figures in red type (or, if you are looking at this table in black and white, the upper figure when there are two or more figures in a cell) are what ATS calls Violation Events, or all incidents recorded by the cameras, and due to time limitations may have been posted here only for selected months or locations. If there is sufficient public interest, the remaining months will be posted. The figures in black type are what ATS calls Citations Issued, and may represent the sum of genuine citations issued (those filed with the court) plus any Nominations mailed (not filed with the court, a.k.a. Snitch Tickets).
[5] Data was requested on:
[6] The camera enforcement is believed to be on traffic on the first-named street, but the direction of enforcement (north, south, east, west, thru, left, right) is not yet available.
[7] New camera as of this month.
[8] The official report for this month was generated a few days before the end of the month, or just a few days after the end of the month, so it is likely that not all tickets (for violations which occurred during the month) had been approved and counted by that time. (The report for the month of --- shows --- violations "still in workflow," so the number of tickets eventually issued could rise as high as ---+---=---.)

Ticketing Highlights

Ticketing doubled between Dec. 2013 and Jan. 2014, and jumped again in Feb. 2016. Also see Set # 4, below.

In 2015, 76% of Cathedral City's camera tickets were for right turns. (For most cities we obtain the percentages by movement - straight, right, left - from the annual reports they file as required by CVC 21455.5(i), but Cathedral City and its camera supplier ATS have been filing annual reports that do not include the breakout by movement. So, we have made our own estimate.)

Cathedral City Docs Set # 2
Press Release

(From the CCPD Website)

CATHEDRAL CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT

PRESS RELEASE

Date: January 27^th, 2009

Written By: Lieutenant Charles Robinson

Subject: Red Light Camera System Results 2008

____________________________________________________________

OVER 500 PHOTO ENFORCEMENT VIOLATORS CITED IN CATHEDRAL CITY

DURING 2008

Cathedral City, CA (January 27^th, 2009) – The City of Cathedral City has issued more than 534 citations to red-light runners in 2008 thanks to Cathedral City’s red light photo-enforcement program. Local and National trends show that the number of violations occurring at photo-enforced intersections decreases the longer a camera-enforced intersection has been active. There has been a 50% decrease in the number of citations issued since 2007, as well as a 30% decrease in the number of reported traffic collisions in the affected area.

“Our goal is to make Cathedral City roadways safer as drivers modify their driving habits and realize they can no longer run red lights,” said Lieutenant Charles Robinson. “The steady decline in red-light running violations shows our public safety program is succeeding and doing so without using any City money. This program is completely funded from red light violators, not the taxpayers.”

Cameras operate 24-hours a day and capture images of every vehicle entering an intersection after the traffic signal is already red. The program vendor, American Traffic Solutions, then sends the images and video of each potential violation to Cathedral City Police Department, who then reviews the potential violations and decides if a citation should be mailed to the vehicle owner. The first camera went active in Cathedral City in January 2006. There have been two additional camera systems installed in January 2009.

The three camera systems are located at the following intersections:

Date Palm and Ramon Road
Ramon Road and Landau Boulevard
Vista Chino and Date Palm

“We’re very pleased with American Traffic Solutions and the safety results they are helping our program achieve,” concluded Lt. Robinson. “We look forward to public safety on our local roadways continuing to improve in 2009.”

For more information on the City’s program, visit http://www.cathedralcity.gov/index.aspx?page=111

For information about the red-light camera equipment or American Traffic Solutions, contact:
Josh Weiss, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, American Traffic Solutions
480-596-4613 josh.weiss@atsol.com

Cathedral City Docs Set # 3
The Contracts and Amendments

2005 Contract
Addenda 1 - 3
2012 Extension
Early 2013 invoices show the City was paying $4990 per camera, each month.
Late 2013 invoices show the City still was paying $4990 per camera.

On May 14, 2014 the city council voted 4 - 1 (Toles: nay) to extend the program for three more years.
Article
2014 Contract
The new contract reduced the rent to $3500 per camera - still too high, see FAQ # 17 - and allows cancellation so long as the City gives 60 days notice.

June 2015 Council Discussion

A discussion of the cameras was on the agenda for a June 10, 2015 study session.
The staff report revealed that 69% of the tickets go to visitors.
No action was taken.

2017: Extended to 2018

On May 16, 2017 the chief of police approved a one year extension of the contract, to June 2, 2018.

2018: Program Cancelled

At their Apr. 25 meeting the City Council voted 4 - 1 (nay: Pettis) to allow the contract to expire on June 2, 2018.
Article
Archived Article

This list of contracts and amendments was up-to-date as of June 2018.

Cathedral City Docs Set # 4
Guidelines and Business Rules

CVC 21455.5(c)(1) and CVC 21455.5(c)(2)(f) require a City to have controls and guidelines for the issuance of tickets, and most cities have put theirs in writing. In Feb. 2015 highwayrobbery.net sent Cathedral City a Public Records Act request asking for the items in blue, below, and in May got the answers in red, indicating that the City has no written procedures - it's all in their heads! Perhaps that is why the City experiences sudden changes in ticketing, like the New Years doubling between Dec. 2013 and Jan. 2014.

P. The latest version or revision of the City's and/or sheriff's written controls or guidelines, as required by CVC 21455.5(c)(2)(F).

"There is no requirement for “written” controls under this section. The controls are that Sworn Police Officers are the only personnel who can access the system and issue citations based on their training and experience. Those citations approved by the officers are then processed by ATS and sent to the violators in the legally prescribed manner."

Q. The latest version or revision of the City's manual, guidelines, business rules, orders, memos or documents describing the action(s) to be taken by a City or sheriff employee or agent whose job it is to review violations and approve or disapprove the issuance of a ticket, when he or she observes a clear gender and/or age mismatch between the red light camera photo of the violating driver and the DMV file photo of the registered owner of the vehicle and is not able to identify the violating driver with a sufficient degree of certainty.

"There is nothing written down to address the issue raised above. If there are discrepancies with identifying a driver or a vehicle that is not to the satisfaction of the reviewing police officer, the citation is rejected. Officers are not going to waste their time and reputation with the Court by approving citations that are clearly not conclusive and could be successfully argued in Court."

Cathedral City Docs Set # 5
Length of Yellow: Signal Timing and Speed Surveys

Signal Timing and Speed Surveys

The Cathedral City red light camera program ended on June 2, 2018

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RED LIGHT CAMERAS
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