Red-light camera violations are worse for on-duty law enforcement

North County Times – Escondido,CA,USA
Red-light cameras are operated in the cities of Del Mar, Encinitas,
Solana Beach, Oceanside, Escondido, Poway, Vista, and San Diego. …

NORTH COUNTY —- Motorists who have gotten a ticket from a red-light camera are likely to grumble, but the consequences are worse if the driver happens to be in a patrol car and is not responding to an emergency.

Law enforcement officials this week said that if the officer was not justified in running the red light, the violation would result in internal disciplinary action or additional financial penalties. Most police and sheriff’s stations have policies for such situations.

“We send (the video) to their command to be dealt with administratively, which is costlier than paying a ticket,” said Sheriff’s Department traffic Sgt. Randy Webb of the Encinitas station.

Officers or deputies could have a written reprimand placed in their personnel file, and they might lose bonus money, Webb said. In an extreme case, he added, someone could be fired if the officer or deputy had a bad driving record. On top of which, some departments will still issue a ticket.

San Diego police Sgt. Joe Bane said San Diego officers are issued a ticket if they were not justified in running the red light and are dealt with internally.

“It’s kind of like double jeopardy,” he said, adding that it is department policy, and officers are aware of the policy.

Escondido Police Department fines its officers an administrative fee for the violation, in addition to a documented counseling session that could lead to termination, Lt. David Mankin said.

All on-duty law enforcement officers, even those working undercover, are exempt from having to stop at traffic signals if they are responding to an emergency, Oceanside police Lt. Tom Aguigui said. But even in an emergency and with their lights and siren activated, officers need to slow down and proceed only if it is safe, he said.

“I don’t think the public would expect us to wait (at a light), if it was a life-and-death situation,” Aguigui said.

Red-light cameras are operated in the cities of Del Mar, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Oceanside, Escondido, Poway, Vista, and San Diego.

Vista sheriff’s Sgt. Marc Ramirez said red-light cameras are activated by sensors in the roadway and a limit line is from corner to corner. When someone enters an intersection after a light has already turned red, even if it just creeps over the limit line, the cameras are activated and will take a video of the violation and a few still photographs, he said.

The cameras capture how fast a driver is going at the time of the violation, and in the case of an officer, it would indicate if the patrol car’s lights and sirens were activated.

Even when it’s obvious a deputy or officer was responding to an emergency call, the video, still photographs, time of day and location are always forwarded to the officer’s command staff for evaluation, authorities said. This policy is extended to other agencies when a deputy or officer runs a red-light camera intersection in another city, or a fire engine or chief is captured on camera.

Ramirez said he will review every Vista case to make sure the deputy was responding to a true emergency call, and he will check to see how safely the deputy entered the intersection. Many times, he can use the video as a training tool for other deputies, he said.

Law enforcement officers said that there were instances where officers or deputies were found not to be justified and were appropriately disciplined internally, nearly all said those instances were not frequent. None said they kept track of the number of red-light camera violations by law enforcement officers.

Aguigui said that, 99 percent of the time, violations by Oceanside officers were justified.

“It’s very uncommon for us to see an officer blatantly run a red light,” he said.

If police commanders find a pattern with a particular officer, the department would first try additional training and warnings to correct the behavior, Aguigui said. If he or she blatantly violated the law, then the department would look at administrative action which could include fines related to administrative action that are equivalent to fines by the court, then on top of that we could send the officer to traffic court.

All of the recommendations by command would be forwarded to the chief of police as well, he said.