Mayor Emanuel Defends Speed Camera Program Amid Reports Of Erroneous Tickets
CHICAGO (CBS) --- Mayor Rahm Emanuel is defending the worth of the city's speed camera program in the face of reports of nearly $2.5 million in erroneous tickets being issued, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.
At first, Mayor Emanuel responded to the Tribune reports of tickets being issued when the speed cameras weren't supposed to be operating with assertions that the program is still about safety, not revenue.
"We always got to be pretty vigilant in…the operation of it, but the fact of the matter is, it is achieving the goal of bringing safety in and around our parks and schools and the data is clear about that," Emanuel said.
Under more questioning, the mayor acknowledged problems but said more warnings are being issued than tickets.
"Where…the system has made a mistake, people get their checks back and we have a process to handle that," Emanuel said.
The Tribune analysis buts the number of questionable tickets issued at about 110,000.