New Miami speed cameras back in court

Critics of speed cameras tend to dismiss the devices as little more than a tool for local governments to fill their coffers with fine money. But at least one New Miami resident, who works across the street from where the village used to place its mobile speed cameras, said she’s glad they might be making a comeback.

“I think when we’re here, and you see the speeding, it (the camera) slowed them down when it was here,” said Claudia Adkins, the assistant manager of the Family Dollar on Ohio 127 in New Miami. “It’s (the speed limit) only 35 (mph), but you get people going 55, 60 (mph) through here.”

New Miami installed speed cameras in 2012 and after 15 months in operation, the village collected about $1.8 million on 44,993 citations. Because of the amount of money raised in such a short time, many critics were accusing the village of using the devices for a cash grab.

But Adkins said she doesn’t believe that it was just about the money.

“I don’t, I think it was a good thing because it slows (drivers) down here,” she said.

Village Solicitor Dennis Adams said two weeks ago during a council meeting that New Miami’s speed cameras would be returning relatively soon. He said Thursday village officials are still waiting to find out when the cameras would be ready.

“The old cameras are probably not coming back,” he said. “We will probably, at least initially, use a hand-held unit for the officers. We are finalizing the technology now.”

The minutes from the Sept. 17 meeting indicated it would be six to eight weeks. However, the matter is still being litigated in court. The 12th District Court of Appeals will hear renewed arguments from the village that the group of plaintiffs sanctioned as a class by the common pleas and appellate courts, shouldn’t be.

Under the new state law — which is also the subject of a lawsuit by the city of Dayton — speed cameras must be accompanied by a police officer. Acting Mayor Bob Henley, who could not be reached for comment, has said previously the cameras would have police escorts. He said they cannot jeopardize their state funding.

The man who sponsored the new law, state Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Green Twp. said the law is unequivocal.

“Wrong,” Seitz said. “That’s not what the law says, and that’s not the intent. They have to have one (an officer) there. Specifically rejected was a proposal that they could sit back at the station, eating donuts and watching the film. No.”

And if the recent common pleas court rulings hold up in the higher courts, Seitz said jurisdictions that continue to disobey the law will feel it in their pocketbooks. He said he and State Rep. Ron Maag have inserted in the budget bill a provision where the jurisdictions using speed cameras will be required to report every ticket and dollar collected to the state, and if they were collected contrary to new law, their local government funds will be docked dollar-for-dollar.

“So if they lose in the Supreme Court, they’re gonna owe a whole lot of people a lot of money,” Seitz said. “If they win in the Supreme Court, they’re gonna be able to continue using their cameras to their heart’s content thereby flouting state law. They can go right ahead and do it, we don’t care, but we will simply reduce their (Local Government Fund) money, because as they’ve said all along, it’s not about the money. Where I come from that’s called checkmate.”

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