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

New 8-3-04, updated 1-22-05

In Nov. 2000 the City of Mesa, due to complaints from its citizens, increased its left-turn yellows from three seconds to four. The table below shows that by the following month the number of violations had dropped to 1/3 (or less) of what it had been, and also that for years after the change, there was no "rebound" - violations remained down. (Flipping the numbers over, we would expect that if Mesa re-set those yellows back to three seconds, there would be a threefold increase in violations.)

See the footnotes [ ], and an Arizona Tribune article, for details.

Table: First 18 columns are red light camera data. Red type is total violations photographed (most months are not posted, due to time limitations). Black type is citations issued. The 19th (last) column is speed camera citations issued. [5]

This table made by highwayrobbery.net, using the City's official monthly tabulations of citations actually issued. Except for the rightmost column, all counts are of 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.
[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.

Mesa's Contract with the Vendor

As of July 2004 the contract documents consisted of a 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
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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