Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker is implementing a speed camera program that his budget director says will increase the county’s revenue by $4.3 million. The program is tucked inside Baker’s proposed $2.6 billion budget for fiscal 2012. The county is facing a $77 million deficit, said Baker’s budget director, Thomas Himler.
Baker already has the authority to implement the program, approved by County Council members in 2009. The law allows the county to fine drivers $40 if they’re caught on camera speeding 12 mph or more over the limit in school zones.
Former County Executive Jack Johnson never carried out the program, saying it was essentially an increase in taxes for residents. Some municipalities in the county still decided to install them.
During a WTOP radio interview, Baker said the revenue collected by the county will be used to fund public safety. He said the county hasn’t awarded a contract yet and he isn’t sure yet whether the contractor will be paid a fixed amount or receive a percentage of speeding tickets.
Maj. Robert Liberati, commander of forensic services for the Prince George’s Police Department, said the county placed bids for 72 portable cameras that can be moved around according to need.
“If we get a fatal accident, if we get a child struck in front of a school, if we have a dangerous part of a roadway near a school or an institute of higher learning and we identify that, we can quickly place a camera there,” he said.
County Council Chairwoman Ingrid Turner, who represents the Bowie area, said she’s thrilled Baker plans to implement the program, saying automated cameras installed by municipalities in her district have deterred speeding in school zones.
“You should see the difference,” she said. “There’s not enough police officers just to sit there — just to sit there with a radar gun.”
But opponents say the program is about making money and not about safety. “I only hope the darn things are more accurate than the cameras some other programs are using right now,” said Ron Ely, who runs StopBigBrotherMD.org.
Montgomery County, the first in the state to operate a speed camera program, expects to bring in $11.2 million from the cameras in fiscal 2012, county spokeswoman Esther Bowring said.
That’s down from $16.5 million in 2010 and $12.2 million in 2011. “That’s the whole point of the program,” Bowring said of the decrease. “If people start to slow down and not speed, we don’t issue tickets.”
