Paul Bass Photo
Ricardo Lori was convinced the new camera staring at him from a downtown traffic light could lead to a ticket if he sped through a red. The city says the camera — and ones like it at 40 spots around town — are there to help drivers like Lori pass through intersections more easily.
A spate of new cameras emerged high up in the air this past week above the lights at State and Grove streets, Grand Avenue and Olive Street, and State and Grand. They recently appeared in Westville and Newhallville as well.
Some people aren’t quite sure what to make of them. Click on the video play arrow to watch some examples.
It turns out the “video detection cameras” are part of an ongoing “Citywide Computerized Signal System Upgrade” that began in late 2008.
The state government’s transportation department is paying to have the new cameras installed at 40 intersections. They replace below-ground detection equipment that measures traffic flow on side streets of main thoroughfares. They give the city’s traffic department information on which to base decisions about changing the timing of individual lights, adjusting the timing of red and green lights along routes (especially at rush hour), and coordinating pairs of nearby lights.
The above-ground cameras are more reliable and give better data than the below-ground detectors, said city traffic chief Mike Piscitelli. The camera images are beamed directly to banks of screens at his department’s offices at 200 Orange St.
Fourteen intersections, including some in the lower part of the Annex, remain to be equipped with the new cameras.
Piscitelli reported that some members of the public are confused about the cameras’ purpose.
“We had a funeral home director [call]. He was concerned that people going to a funeral would get a ticket” for running red light, he said.
Part of the confusion could stem from the city’s campaign to win state permission to install “red light” video cameras. (Click here and here for related stories.) Those cameras take videos of drivers running red lights, which cops can use to write tickets or make arrests. But under state law the city can’t use such cameras without the legislature’s permission. The city has failed to win such permission in Hartford, where debate has pitted public safety against civil liberties concerns.
As he waited for the camera-topped light to change at State and Grove Thursday, driver Lori (pictured) wasn’t buying the city’s explanation for the new cameras.
“It’s a set-up to probably go ahead and start handing out tickets for people that run the light,” he said. “I’m not crazy about it. I’ve never been a fan of surveillance.”
Piscitelli said the city couldn’t use the cameras for that purpose even if it wanted. The new cameras run on a loop system. The red-light cameras designed for catching bad drivers capture stills with license plate numbers.
The new cameras could help police find clues to investigating accidents, Piscitelli said. But that’s a hit-or-miss proposition, and the police have to hurry to watch the images before they disappear from the loop. He said he could recall only one instance where police tried to sift through the video images for clues, after an accident at Broadway and Elm a few years ago. He doesn’t remember if any useful clues were found.
Jerome Brantley, who got his first glimpse of the cameras as he crossed State Street on foot Thursday, said he’d prefer the cameras be used for law enforcement.
“If something was to happen, then I would be grateful for the cameras,” he said.