Mesa, Arizona Docs - Main Page - Red Light Cams

City of Mesa, Arizona, Documents
(and Other Arizona Information)

Mesa, pop. 450,000, is east of Phoenix.
Mesa has both red light cameras and speed camera vans.

For a book on how to fight speed camera tickets, see the Speeding Ticket section on the Links page.

Mesa Docs Set # 1
Mesa Data Shows Longer Yellows Cut Violations by 2/3 - Permanently

A. Why was there no significant decline in overall cites, when the 2001-2004 period (1331 cites per month) is compared to the 2006-2009 period (1316)?
B. Why was there a big jump in citations at most intersections, but not all of them, in March and April 2001?
C. Why did citations at Mesa/Southern quadruple - including a near-doubling sometime after Aug. 2004 - after being so low in early 2001?
D. Why did citations at Dobson/Southern continue to be so high?
E. Why did citations at Power/Main rise and fall so much during the 2001 - 2004 period?

The table above was made by highwayrobbery.net, using the City's official monthly tabulations of citations actually issued. Except for the rightmost column, all figures represent red light camera citations.

[1] The monthly totals are as provided by the City, except for Jun03, Oct03, Jul04, and Aug04 which were calculated by highwayrobbery.net.
The averages were calculated by highwayrobbery.net.
[2] On Nov. 14, 2000, the City increased the length of the yellows at the left turns above, from three seconds, to four.
[3] Effective June 1, 2001, the number of available cameras was reduced from 17 to 12, with the cameras to be rotated among the 17 existing housings.
[4] Data requested but not yet received.
[5] Figures in red type (or, if you are looking at this table in black and white, the upper figure of the two in the cell) are "raw" violations recorded by the cameras. They have been posted only for selected months, due to time limitations. If there is sufficient public interest, additional months will be posted. The figures in black type are citations issued.
[6] Months with no activity, and months at the beginning or end of a short period of activity, have not been included in this average .
[7] The official report for 2006 - 2009 (linked above) combined the ticket counts for four of the left turns with ticket counts for through movements. The overall average Total RLC shown here for Jan. 2006 - Dec. 2009 (1316) is for the camera locations named in the table above; it does not include locations constructed after Aug. 2004.
[8] In 2011 highwayrobbery.net requested detailed data for 2010 onward but was told that the only information available was the one-page report for 2006 - 2009, linked above.
For details about the 2011 records request, see Set # 8, below.

Mesa's Contract with the Vendor

As of July 2004 the contract documents consisted of a 1999 contract and a July 2001 amendment. Here are some major provisions.

Vendor, and term: The vendor was Lockheed Martin IMS, now ACS. The contract was signed in Nov. 1999 and runs until April 30, 2005.
Fees: Until June 1, 2001, the vendor received $48.50 each for the first 20,000 paid citations (combined red light camera and speed camera) per year (calendar year or contract year?), $39 for the next 20,000, and $21 for those above 40,000.
Beginning June 1, 2001 the two types of cameras have separate compensation schedules. The vendor receives $73 each for the first 900 red light camera tickets paid each month, $65 for the next 300, and $48.50 for those above 1200. For speed camera tickets, the vendor receives $51 for each one paid.
Camera locations: The June 1, 2001 contract amendment reduced the number of red light camera mechanisms from 17 to 12 [although it appears, from the table above, that they still have 13 cameras], with the cameras to be rotated among the 17 existing housings.

Mesa Docs Set # 5
Arizona Fake Tickets You Can Ignore!

Arizona has two different kinds of camera tickets.

(1) Tickets issued by the Department of Public Safety have a $100+ fine, and do not affect your insurance. The DPS is ticketing only for speeding on State highways.

(2) Tickets issued by Arizona cities are handled through the same court system as are tickets issued by a "live" cop who has pulled you over. These tickets carry a $200+ fine, and can affect your insurance. These tickets can be either for running a red light, or for speeding. If you have received a photo ticket issued by an Arizona city (not the DPS), you MAY be able to ignore it, if it says, "This is not a summons to appear." These fake tickets may or may not give the name of the court - and there will no address for the court. Arizona fake tickets are similar to the Snitch Tickets used in California. Read about California Snitch Tickets in the top section on the Your Ticket page.

Be sure to read this excellent Phoenix New Times article from 2007 before you make any contact with Arizona authorities or their websites. But keep in mind that the article is only about the city-issued tickets - it was written before the beginning of the DPS program. From the article:

"Most cities don't send real citations to corporations. They send weakly worded notices that can be safely thrown in the trash. Unlike the grim tone of a citation, which orders the motorist to pay a fine or appear in court on a certain date, the violation notices let the company know up front: " 'This is not a Summons to Appear. There is no fine associated with this Notice.' "

"The notices sent to businesses gently ask them to identify the driver and mail the form back so a new ticket can be reissued in the driver's name. No law forces anyone to do that, however."

"Scottsdale's been mailing such notices for years; Mesa and Phoenix started sending them last year. Tempe sends businesses a letter instead of a citation."

"Police do nothing when the notices are disregarded."

In 2011 a new law went into effect, limiting the ability of Arizona authorities to print false threats on notices sent out to motorists. From a Jul. 19, 2011 Phoenix New Times article:

"Starting tomorrow [Jul. 20, 2011], photo-enforcement-violation notices must finally state the truth about what's going on -- namely, that you don't need to respond or identify the driver in the picture."

Mesa Docs Set # 6
Petitions Circulating

As of early 2009 there were at least two anti-camera organizations in Arizona, and they were starting to circulate statewide petitions. You can find links to them, in Section 5 of the Links page.

Mesa Docs Set # 7
Mesa's Losses Continue to Grow

Mesa has been losing money on its camera program.

Per an Arizona Republic article published Mar. 5, 2010, the losses have been:

2009: $436,797
2008: $389,307
2007: $281,000

Mesa Docs Set # 8
Information Blackout - For the Public and the City Council

In 2011 highwayrobbery.net requested detailed ticketing data for 2010 onward (to extend the table in Set # 1, above) but was told that the only information available was the one-page report for 2006 - 2009, linked above.
The 2011 correspondence with the City is in the box, below.

On 3-17-11 highwayrobbery.net wrote:

For MPD PIO Det. B---- -

Thank you for returning my call just now.

Here is my written public records request.

I would like to get a copy of the report(s) or other materials which were provided to the Republic for their photo enforcement article of the 16th. [link]

I would also like to get a copy of the most recent periodic (monthly, quarterly, annual) photo enforcement status report provided to the city council, the public safety committee, or other legislative body.

Finally, I would also like to get a copy of the most recent comprehensive or non-periodic photo enforcement report provided to the city council, the public safety committee, or other legislative body. The subject matter of interest would be any aspect of the program including but not limited to the contract, income, staffing, liability, litigation, accident rates, or efficacy.

Thanks,

On 3-22-11 Steven B---- wrote:

Hello,

We don't normally send out information through e-mail and normally there is a $5.00 fee associated with any request. However, since there is only the one page, my supervisor authorized me to send it via e-mail.

This is the only sheet available. This is the exact information that was provided to the Arizona Republic for their article.

Steve

On 3-23-11 highwayrobbery.net wrote:

For Det. B---- -

Thanks for the data sheet. Since, per your response, no report or status report, whether periodic or non-periodic, has been provided to any legislative body at any time (please advise if I have mid-interpreted your response), I would like to widen my request to cover any report or status report provided to anyone, not necessarily a legislative body, outside the program. This would include, but not be limited to, documents provided to police administration, a city oversight committee (or any other oversight committee), city administration, county administration or legislative body, state administration or legislative body, federal administration or legislative body, the camera vendor, the press, or the general public.

Thanks,

On 4-12-11 Steven B---- wrote:

Sorry for the delay in my response. The report that I previously sent you is all that is available. We do not put together any quarterly type report according to my supervisor. For the number of citations you could probably get that information from Mesa City Court.

Steve

Mesa Docs Set # 9
More Coming

There may be some more Mesa information posted in the next few weeks. Mark your calendar to remind you to come back here and look!

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