HAMMOND | Though swiftly signed into local law, the city's new red light camera enforcement program isn't ready to launch, according to Hammond police Lt. Pat Vicari, who supervises the traffic division.
"(City Attorney) Kris Kantar sent a letter to the State Board of Accounts to make sure we do this correctly and that it can, in fact, be done," he said. "We're not going to run out and throw up cameras. We're trying to do this right."
Approached only in recent months by SafeSpeed, the Chicago firm shopping the program in Northwest Indiana, Vicari already was familiar with red light cameras from his military days in Germany. He has been central in getting the program in place in Hammond, which is the first in the state to sign the controversial program into local law.
The program catches on camera cars running red lights and treats the offense as an infraction so no points are assessed against the driver's license. Critics argue the program suffers from due process issues and that it has been used primarily as a revenue generator. Supporters counter the program is a public safety tool and cite statistics showing a reduction in accidents.
"We knew we were pioneering this program," Vicari said. "It's groundbreaking. We don't expect to go online today, tomorrow or the next day."
And prior to any cameras going into effect, Vicari promised a public information blitz. "It's not going to be a secret where these cameras will be," he said.
Vicari denounced a commonly held contention the program amounts to a revenue generator. "This is about public safety," he said. "We had (about) 3,100 crashes last year. Fourteen people died as a result of those crashes."
Two of the fatalities were at intersections Vicari determined to be among the city's six most dangerous local intersections. The deaths occurred at 165th Street and Hohman Avenue and 169th Street and Kennedy Avenue.
"We do have higher volume crashes in our city, however, a lot of them are on state roads and U.S. highways," Vicari said. State statute is clear that red light cameras cannot be installed at intersections involving either state or federal highways so they are not among the intersections cited by Vicari.
Vicari compiled the crash data from the state's Accident Reporting Information and Exchange System, available only to law enforcement agencies. Since 2004, the six worst local intersections in Hammond accounted for 539 crashes, two fatalities and 186 injuries.
"A lot of people lose sight of what this program is trying to accomplish," he said. "If it helps me save one life, prevent one crash, then to me it's worth it."
To those who contend the program will increase rear-end collisions, Vicari said there are studies pro and con. His own calculations of the city's yellow lights, however, show them to be adequate.
"The current yellow lights are more than long enough to enable (drivers) to stop," he said.
