LONE TREE — Gazing at his computer screen in the Lone Tree Police Department headquarters, Sgt. Scott Cavenah clicks through the list of potential violations forwarded to him by American Traffic Solutions, the Arizona-based contractor for the city’s three photo red-light intersections.
One photo captures the plate, another the driver. A digital read-out tells him the amber light time (4.5 seconds, in this case), the car’s speed (58 mph in a 45-mph zone) and how long the light has been red when the car enters the intersection (1.2 seconds). Accompanying video lets him watch the sequence in real time or frame by frame.
This one’s a slam-dunk. The car blows through without so much as tapping the brakes.
“Thank goodness nobody was coming across from the other lane,” he said, clicking “Approve,” to send the citation back to the vendor for billing.
Cavenah represents the human element in a cut-and-dried technological process. He rejects an average of 113 potential citations per intersection each month — many of them rolling right turns that pose little danger. He can click on a long list of reasons to dismiss, ranging from “too close to call” to bad weather.
“I’m not out to hammer anyone,” Cavenah said. “I’m not a proponent of using the traffic unit as a revenue generator.”
Since the first camera went active in July 2008, Lone Tree has netted about $110,000 after expenses, even though only two of the three locations — all three are at the Interstate 25 and Lincoln Avenue interchange — pay for themselves. At one nearby location where ATS data showed many violations, Cavenah rejected a camera because most infractions were for right turns and the location had no crash problem.
Cavenah has seen a slow decline in the percentage of the city’s accidents that occur at the I-25 and Lincoln interchange — but he’s not ready to credit the cameras until he sees at least a year’s worth of data.
“If an officer is there and visible at an intersection, you won’t have accidents because people watch their P’s and Q’s,” Cavenah said. “Does a red-light camera have that effect? I hope it does.”
