Violations generally clear in photos, videos of red-light runners

Officer Barry Rizk didn’t need a cruiser to issue traffic tickets. Rather, he simply sat in his office, turned on his computer and settled for a 12-second video.

With wide eyes, he watched cars and trucks on Barnes Road slow while traffic lights switched from warning amber to red. A couple vehicles actually stopped. One white SUV, however, never even hit the brakes.

“It’s a no brainer,” said Rizk, shaking his head.

With the click of his mouse, Rizk sent a $75 ticket to the owner of the SUV whose license plate was captured in the incriminating photo. The driver also is pictured.

It brought the number of tickets issued in a 90-minute span Wednesday to about 25, a modest total considering the department had issued more than 400 since a month-long trial of its red-light camera enforcement ended three weeks ago.

It is a figure that is likely to grow. More than 600 additional cases from each of the four intersections across town known for their T-bone crashes and red light runners were waiting to be reviewed as of Wednesday.

The two officers reviewing the cases issue tickets about 90 percent of the time, said Sgt. Andrew James, who heads the program.

Many violations are as obvious as the white SUV. Others require a little more time watching instant replay.

“The decision we’ve made is it either is or it isn’t,” James said. “There no ‘it’s close’ or ‘maybe it was.’ It’s clear cut.”

But challenges are expected from residents uneasy about the program — many of whom are just now receiving tickets, which take up to three weeks to be mailed.

Reports of other cities shortening yellow light times to catch more drivers have eroded public trust in such programs. Many drivers see the program as a way to fill city coffers.

James said yellow light times have remained constant — averaging three seconds at Nevada Avenue and Bijou Street; four seconds at Platte Avenue and Circle Drive along with Barnes Road and Oro Blanco Drive; and five seconds at Platte Avenue and Murray Boulevard.

James said any ticket is worthless unless it stands up in court.

“These two guys have to be comfortable that they can go into court, raise their right hand and say ‘Absolutely,’” James said.

The Decision Room

The officers stationed in an office at the back of the municipal courthouse never see most of the photos taken by the high-powered red-light cameras.

Most are weeded out by the company supplying the system, American Traffic Solutions of Scottsdale, Ariz., to reduce the case load for the Colorado Springs Police Department’s three-person unit, James said.

The company throws out photos with unreadable license plates or obscured faces, James said, as well as instances when vehicles tripped the system by simply stopping over the white “stop bar” lining each intersection.

License plate numbers from the remaining vehicles are sent to the department of motor vehicles and returned with driver information.

About a week after the camera snaps its pictures, Traffic Solutions sends a computer file with four pictures to either Rizk or officer Dave Williams for one last check.

Staring at his computer screen, Rizk ensures a picture of the license plate is readable and matches data from the department of motor vehicles. Next, he makes sure the driver’s picture is clear, just in case he has to point out the driver in court.

“It’s almost like a double-check of everything,” James said.

Then he examines two photos of the actual vehicle — one taken as it hits the “stop bar” and another a second later as it runs the red light.

About 30 seconds into this routine, he clicks a link that provides the last piece of evidence: A 12-second video showing the violation.

Rizk spends most of his time viewing these videos, even if each review takes no more than a couple minutes.

Scrolling his cursor over an icon on his computer, he pulls up a video of a man earning a ticket for slowing — not stopping — while turning right onto Circle Drive from Platte Avenue.

“If the person stops across the stop bar, technically that’s a violation,” James said. “We’re not accepting those. We realize that people may have to go out a little bit further just to see. As long as they stop and make a safe right turn.”

Though rare, drivers are let off the hook now and then. During a 90-minute review session on Wednesday, one driver got a pass.

Clicking his mouse, Rizk’s computer screen displays a woman driving a blue SUV into the intersection of Circle Drive and Platte Avenue just one hundredth of a second after the light turned red.

“There’s no way that I could tell,” said Rizk, watching the video at full-speed. “Even though I’m pretty sure it’s a violation, but I’m not going on pretty sure.”

It isn’t until he freezes the video at the moment the light turns red, that he finds the problem: Another vehicle next to the blue SUV has blocked his view of its front tires.

No conclusive evidence, he said, so no ticket.

“It’s gone,” said Rizk, clicking on “reject.” “No notice, no anything. It just disappears.”

The ticketed cases continue; one depicts a person hitting the “stop bar” just one-hundredth of a second too late. Another shows a man blowing through an intersection 16 seconds after the light turned red.

The original white SUV on Barnes Road catches James’ eye one last time.

“Slow that down; go half speed,” James said. “Watch what comes out right after she goes through.”

The officers wait quietly for the image to appear.

A half-second later, they see two people and a dog cautiously step onto the road right after the SUV sped past.