City's Office of Inspector General To Review Controversial Red-Light Camera Program

By Jon Graef in News on Jul 27, 2014 4:00PM

At the behest of both Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld, the city's Office of Inspector General will review the controversial red light camera program.

That's in addition to CDOT's own review of over 9,000 red-light camera tickets which were issued during mysterious spikes at certain camera locations.

In a news release, the OIG said it was "prioritizing an immediate review of the program" in order to establish how the program was being operated and to restore public confidence in the program as well. (A Herculean task indeed, considering.)

Here's more:

OIG will publicly report the findings from its review of past activities, along with any recommendations for how the City, working with the new vendor, can assure the program operates effectively and fairly in the future. If the review reveals any indication of purposeful manipulation or unlawful conduct, OIG will take action to investigate and will work with the appropriate prosecutorial authorities.

The new vendor refers to the organization set to replace Redflex Traffic Solutions, the former vendor ousted after a bribery scandal. (Which didn't stop them from record profits, natch.)

“In the wake of recent media reports, the public’s questions regarding the Red-Light Camera program are understandable,” Inspector General Joseph Ferguson said in the OIG news release. “A multi-pronged approach is clearly needed to restore public confidence in this enforcement program."

OIG said it would "report its findings and recommendations on how the City can manage the Red-Light Camera program more efficiently, fairly, and in a manner fully deserving of the public’s trust."

Bonne chance.