Schenck gives green light to red light camera debate

The issue: Bill banning cities from using red light cameras to create new source of revenue.

Our opinion: State Rep. Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill, stands against government intrusion, hidden tax.

Finally, someone in government is standing up against those intrusive red light cameras that are creating hit-the-jackpot revenues for the city of Brooksville and other cash-strapped municipalities across Florida.

State Rep. Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill, has filed a bill in Tallahassee that would forbid local government from enforcing traffic laws using red light cameras to increase revenue in the wake of falling property values.

"I don't believe it is right for local governments to use cameras as a means to increase falling revenue under the guise of public safety," Schenck told Hernando Today. "I believe this is nothing more than a hidden tax on my constituents and to the citizens of the state of Florida."

Here! Here!

Tourists and other unsuspecting travelers who haven't been to Brooksville before are most likely to get snagged in the city's "trap" of red light cameras. They probably won't want to come back.

As of the first of the year, Brooksville had issued more than 5,000 tickets using the cameras. At $125 a pop, that's a cool $625,000. The company that set up and monitors the cameras gets $40 of each "fine." The city budgeted about $1 million in revenue this fiscal year from the cameras it has stationed at five intersections throughout the city.

That's a nice cushion when you consider the city's property tax revenues are plunging nearly as fast as cash from red light camera revenue is rolling in.

Another drawback to the fine is that it is attached to the vehicle, not driver. The cameras can't necessarily tell who's driving the vehicle. Is it fair to ticket the owner of the vehicle when that person may not have been driving it?

We don't think so.

Brooksville Police Chief George Turner would disagree with Schenck - and us.

He claims the cameras are a safety measure that helped decrease traffic accidents at those intersections in the city by 35 percent - from 299 in 2008 to 193 in 2009, a difference of 106 accidents.

When the number of traffic accidents at the intersection drops by more than a third in one year, it's reason to take note. But a comparison of one year over the next does not a convincing argument make. It also is not the entire point.

Truth is, the city wouldn't be making so much money off these cameras if motorists weren't running so many red lights. So, are they a deterrent or simply a money-making venture?

Schenck is right when he claims local governments like Brooksville are using the cameras as revenue producers. While they may have an impact on safety, that's more a consequence than the motivating factor.

Another disturbing aspect of the cameras is law enforcement's ability to keep their eyes on us.

It's the "Big Brother" that George Orwell warned us against in his 1949 novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" about a society where everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities and the people are constantly reminded that "Big Brother is watching you."

Today, it's red light cameras snapping photos and taking video of your vehicle as it rolls through an intersection. You get a summons in the mail, pay the $125 fine and feel ripped off yet somewhat fortunate that no points will be assessed against your license.

When government starts using technology as surveillance in our everyday lives, we give up a measure of our freedom.

What's next? Will parks, streets and other public places be monitored by cameras 24/7? Will government, law enforcement in particular, be watching our every move?

If Chief Turner is correct, and we hope he's not, these types of cameras will be everywhere one day soon. That means government will be able to watch and track our every move.

We look forward to the debate in the Legislature, where, earlier this year a Senate and House bill were filed that would allow for red light camera initiatives to be used statewide - a measure similar to Brooksville's existing red light ordinance. If approved, the bills would increase ticket costs from $125 to $150 and the state would get a $75 cut.

Another money grab, only this time by a cash-strapped state government that hasn't done enough to curb its own bloated spending habits.

If Schenck's bill is successful, it will be a win-win for Floridians: one less hidden tax that requires Big Brother to watch over us.

If lawmakers take the low road, Chief Turner will be correct: There will be government surveillance cameras everywhere, and there will be no turning back.

Red light cameras may somehow help protect us from an accident at an intersection, but the government takes away a measure of our freedom to do so.

Which is more important?

Schenck is right: The cameras need to go.