San Bernardino Docs - Main Page - Illegal Red Light Cameras

This table made by highwayrobbery.net, using official monthly tabulations of citations actually issued.

Source data: Official tabulations for 2005-2010
Source data: Official tabulations for 2011

The San Bernardino cameras are operated by ATS, using Nestor software.

L = Ticket for left turn
R = Ticket for right turn
T = Ticket for straight-through movement
[ ] indicates a footnote.
[1] Totals are as provided by the City.
[2] YTD = Year-to-date total.
[3] Un-used columns are to allow for later expansion of City's system.
[4] Any figures in red type (or, if you are looking at this table in black
and white, the upper figure when there are two or more figures in a cell) are what Nestor
calls Violations Recorded, or all incidents recorded by the cameras. The figures in black type are what Nestor calls Citations Issued, and may be the sum of genuine
citations issued (those filed with the court) plus any Nominations mailed (not filed with the court, a.k.a. Snitch Tickets)..
[6] Intersection-by-intersection data for these months has not yet been requested.
[7] The info about the direction of enforcement (north, south, east, west, and right or left) was provided by the City.
[8] The title bar has been repeated solely for the convenience of the reader - there is no difference between it and the one at the top of the table.

San Bernardino doesn't print the Late Time on their tickets, even though their Nestor system clearly has the capability to do so.

(From sample ticket at the end of a Nestor brochure.)

If you phone the SBPD to ask what your Late Time was, they may insist that you come in to the police station.

Nearly every other city that I know of prints the Late Time somewhere on their tickets (even though it can be hard to read at times - see the big How to Read Your Late Time box in Defect # 7 on the Home page). San Bernardino's motive not to display it could be so that they can cite for very short Late Times (like 0.1 second) without a public uproar (including criticism by judges) about "Mickey Mouse" tickets. Another possible motive could be to grind you down, make it harder for you to fight your ticket.

If you want to know what your late time is, I suggest that you call any of the following at the City:
The Mayor (909) 384-5133
The Police Chief (909) 384-5607
The Police Department Non-Emergency Line (909) 384-5742
Alternately, you could submit a Discovery letter to get a copy of the violation video, then review that frame-by-frame, on your home computer. See Getting Records for how to do a Discovery.

San Bernardino Docs Set # 3
"Late Time" Tables

The City provided tables of Late Times for all of its cameras.
These tables track violations recorded, and in parenteses, tickets issued.

The picture above is an example of the table, from another city.

San Bernardino, six-month Intervals, 2005 - 2010
San Bernardino, monthly, 2011

Late Time info is available for more than forty other cities - see the list of cities in the expanded version of Defect # 9.

To see examples of other standard reports generated by Nestor (which could be obtained by making a request to the City), see the reports received from the City of Fullerton (also a Nestor customer), Set # 4 on the Fullerton Documents page.

Docs Set # 5
The Contract, Attempted Early Termination in 2011, and How They Voted

The City signed a contract with Nestor Traffic Systems, on May 4, 2005.
2005 Contract, Signed

The system began operation on Aug. 1, 2005, with a month of warning tickets.

In 2008 the City Council voted 4 - 3 to amend the contract, to add more cameras and a collision avoidance feature.
2008 Amendment, Signed

The 2005 contract included an illegal "cost neutrality" clause, whereby the city was not required to pay Nestor the full rent if there wasn't enough fine revenue to cover the cost. On Nov. 21, 2008 an Orange County appellate court found that Nestor's similar "cost neutral" contract with the City of Fullerton was illegal, so on Jan. 20, 2009 the San Bernardino City Council voted to remove the cost neutral clause from its contract. That amendment became effective on Feb. 4. Also read Defect # 10 - B, on the Home page.
Jan. 2009 Staff Report, and Minutes
Jan. 2009 Amendment, Signed

In late 2009 ATS purchased Nestor out of receivership, so became the vendor to San Bernardino.

On Jan. 24, 2011 the City Council considered - but did not accept - the police chief's recommendation to add cameras, improve the equipment, and extend the term of the contract.
Jan. 2011 Staff Report, with Proposed Resolution
From the minutes of the meeting:
"City Attorney Penman advised... based on what he has heard tonight, the City Attorney's office has no choice but to withdraw its support of this program."
"It was the consensus of the Council that the City has lost business because of the red light cameras and they're not making the City any safer."
The council did not accept the chief's recommendation. Instead, it voted, 5-2, to:
"...wind down the current contract and direct the City Manager to come back with a set of recommendations relative to exiting the Red Light Camera Program as soon as possible."
The two "no" votes were by Councilmembers Johnson and McCammack.
Jan. 2011 Minutes

On Mar. 7, 2011 the City Council voted to pay an early termination penalty staff told them would be approx. $100,000, and end the program in June 2011.
Mar. 2011 Staff Report, and Minutes

In April and May there was an exchange of letters between the City and ATS.
Chief's Apr. 11 Letter to ATS
ATS' May 4 Reply to Chief

On Jul. 15, 2011 the Press-Enterprise published an article ("Sticker Shock on Red Light Camera Contract") indicating:

"San Bernardino officials are trying to negotiate down a $1.8 million bill
to get out of a red-light camera contract.
"The figure shocked City Council members who had voted [in March] to end the agreement
after being told [by City staff] that the city would be liable for $114,075 at most."

The article also indicated that the cameras still are in operation.

On Aug. 1 the city council held a closed session (non-public) meeting about the camera contract, but took no (reportable) action.

An Aug. 29 Press-Enterprise article discussed blame-shifting and finger-pointing letters by the police chief and city attorney.

On Sept. 5 a PE columnist revealed more details about the infighting at City Hall, and that the police chief filed for retirement,
asking that it be effective immediately. (He was kept on until the Sept. 14 appointment of new Chief Robert Handy.)

On Sept. 19 a PE article said the city council had voted 5 - 2 to continue the program to 2014, with more cameras to be added.

Sept. 2011 Staff Report

How They Voted - or Not

	2005 Approve New Contract?	2008 Expand Program?	Jan. 2011 End Program?	Mar. 2011 End Program?	Sept. 19, 2011 Continue Program?

Longville	Y
McGinnis	Y
Derry	Y	N
Estrada	Y	Y
Baxter		Y
Desjardins			Y
Marquez			Y	Y	Y
Shorett			Y	Y	Y
Jenkins					Y
Brinker		N	Y	Y	Y
Johnson	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
Kelley	Y	N	Y	Y	N
McCammack	Y	Y	N	Abstain*	N