Testimony on MC 4-21, Traffic Camera Enforcement
The Action Committee for Transit strongly supports MC 4-21 to allow Montgomery County to designate the County Department of Transportation as the agency responsible for implementing automated speed monitoring and red light camera systems in the county. With this change, an employee of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, could sign required statements on a citation issued through the use of these systems, instead of a police officer, allowing law enforcement to put more resources into non-routine, non-traffic-related policing.
Placing the responsibility of validating the automated video and camera capture of traffic violations with the County Department of Transportation would also improve the effectiveness of our Vision Zero efforts by placing day to day information about automated speed monitoring and red light camera enforcement with the organization responsible for the engineering and educational efforts that are equally needed to make our roads safer.
In addition, to the extent that civilian control of automated traffic violation enforcement would encourage its expansion, it would reduce the volume of police traffic stops. This change could have important community racial and equity benefits. As is well known both informally and officially (see the Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight report of July 21), current practices result in Black drivers being stopped twice as often for traffic violations as White, Latinx, and Asian drivers. This must change.
Impartial enforcement, improved policing, and safer streets will be the result.