Shreveport City Council Votes for More Speed Cameras

Against the wishes of the majority of Shreveport voices, the Shreveport City Council has voted to add additional "speed enforcement cameras" to city streets. The measure was to allow Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux to enter into an agreement for the cameras and enforcement with Blue Line Solutions, LLC. This is a private company who will issue citations with unmanned cameras. The term of the agreement will be for three years.

When the expansion of these cameras was first proposed to the City Council, the outpouring of anger online was overwhelming. Even those who are not generally engaged in city politics found themselves engaged in dissent for this plan with the City Council and Mayor. Numerous media polls were conducted by Shreveport media and online groups, all found a vast majority of residents were against these cameras. 

Even with the pushback from a large majority of their constituents, the City Council voted 4-3 to defy the wishes of the public. "Yes" votes came from Tabatha Taylor, James Green, Alan Jackson, and Ursula Bowman. The three "no" votes were cast by Grayson Boucher, Gary Brooks, and Jim Taliaferro.

While some online thought Mayor Arceneaux would veto this resolution, that won't happen. Because the agreement to expand the cameras was proposed initially by Mayor Arceneaux.

A report from KTBS says the new cameras will be placed at:

Jewella – 70th to Hollywood
Pines Road – Santa Monica to Border 9
Fant Parkway – Grimmett to Jack Wells
Legardy – 2300 block
Fant Parkway – Coates Bluff to Stoner
Murphy – Norma to Yale
Buncombe Road – 6400 Block
Russell Road – Kelsey to MLK Drive
Navaho Trail – Tecumseh to Ute Trail
David Raines Road – Freddie to Stafford
Mayfair Drive – 300 Block
Monrovia – Gilbert to Line
Audrey Lane –Willis to Willie Mays (pairs with Legardy near Green Oaks HS)

While this has gained approval in Shreveport, there's still a chance these cameras don't make it through the full 3-year agreement. Other states, like Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin have outright banned the use of speed enforcement by unmanned camera. Other states have carve outs that allow camera use, if a police officer is present.

The state of Louisiana is working on a similar ban. It has already been brought up at the state level, and will likely continue to resurface in Baton Rouge while these programs expand.

Shreveport's expansion of the camera enforcement has been labeled a "money grab" by many. After the initial rollout of the cameras, thousands of complaints were filed over citations being issued from Blue Line Solutions. The complaints centered around the tickets being issued outside of school times, or when the lights installed were not flashing, or tickets issued in total error.

One of the biggest complaints is that this system removes one of the pillars of the American justice system, granted by the 6th Amendment of the Constitution, your right to face your accuser. With an unmanned speed camera, the machine cannot appear in court to testify. The camera cannot face cross examination, and it can't share its side of the story with the court. So if you believe you weren't speeding and the camera malfunctioned, how would you make your case in court?

Shreveport stands to profit heavily off these new cameras. Perhaps if they were honest about their motivations, more of the public would be understanding about the plan.