Traffic cameras catching cops, too

An assistant police chief and a division commander were among a dozen police employees who have triggered photo-enforcement citations in their city-owned vehicles since the Tucson Police Department began using the automated, round-the-clock cameras.

Half of the 12 officers avoided being cited in court when an internal investigation showed they were justified in responding quickly to an emergency, said Lt. John Stamatopoulos, an executive officer in the police chief's office.

"I was taken by surprise when I saw the camera flash," Capt. David Neri recalled. "I thought the car behind me must have run a red light. I looked in my rearview mirror, and there was nobody there."

The city has issued more than 14,000 citations since the first of four red-light cameras began operating last fall — and the number of citations per month shot up sharply in May.

A police van also parks in different parts of the city documenting speeders with photo radar. The cameras are part of a one-year pilot program to reduce crashes.

Police cite employees from all city departments in court like any citizen if the camera shows a violation, said Lt. Mike Pryor, who oversees photo enforcement.

Police on duty or driving a city vehicle also are referred to the department's Internal Affairs unit for investigation that could lead to disciplinary action.

Neri, a division commander, received a formal written reprimand after a video showed his black-and-white police car failed to beat the red light at Tanque Verde and Grant roads by a half-second.

He said he was doing what officers are trained to do: monitoring the other traffic in the intersection. But he said that's no excuse for failing to monitor his own driving.

He went to traffic school and used the incident to emphasize to supervisors in the division he commands that all officers must be more careful.

The Arizona Daily Star identified some of the ticketed officers by comparing the Police Department's payroll database with a court database of photo-enforcement citations.

Assistant Chief Kathleen Robinson, who oversaw the department bureau that includes photo enforcement, got a citation after her unmarked car zipped along in the 1400 block of East Broadway at 46 miles per hour. The speed limit was 30.

She went to traffic school and received the department's mildest discipline: a report placed in her personnel file for six months and counseling, records show. She declined to comment for this story.

The department disciplined a detective after supervisors concluded his speed was not justified when he went to a homicide, Stamatopoulos said.

The Star found no police officers who triggered the cameras again and again. A few civilian motorists have been cited three times already.

Those that challenge a red-light citation in court often give up when they see the digital video.

"There you are, like a deer in the headlights. You can't deny it's you," said Tucsonan Lynn Ratener, recalling the photos of her driving through red lights twice at Tanque Verde and Grant roads.

Officer Robert Boone, one of those who review the videos, has seen motorists run red lights so late that you can't help but expect a crash.

"Sitting here watching this, you just cringe," Boone said.

Last February, a Tucson police officer was driving to breakfast at about 12 miles per hour above the 45-mph limit when he struck and killed a man crossing the street in the pre-dawn darkness, police reported.

Five years ago, an officer who ran a red light while responding to an emergency call collided with another vehicle. An 8-year-old boy died. The city paid $1.25 million to the boy's family after police concluded the officer should have slowed more as he crossed the intersection.

Mike Meehan, the attorney who represented the family, said the city is right to hold officers accountable both in court and through Internal Affairs investigations. Some cities have done only one or the other.

He said police who turn on their lights and siren must also use sufficient caution.

Off-duty officers in their own cars get cited in court but normally face no internal investigation or discipline because the violations are not criminal.

Stacked behind two cars in a turn lane at Grant and Tanque Verde roads, off-duty Lt. Steve Mesich was only two-tenths of a second too late to avoid a red-light citation.

In contrast, video records show off-duty Lt. Rick Hovden was 17.6 seconds too late as he turned his Lexus from Oracle Road onto River Road in April.

Both went to traffic school. Hovden declined to comment. Mesich said he'll try to avoid that mistake again — "I was in the wrong" — and wants the cameras that nabbed him to keep operating.

Although critics have called red-light cameras more effective at generating fines than preventing crashes, Mesich said he feels they'll prove highly effective here at lowering crash rates.

Pryor said experts told him the city may need two years of data before it can firmly analyze any change in crashes.

"There you are, like a deer in the headlights. You can't deny it's you."

Lynn Ratener, caught by red-light camera