| The Vendor The City of West Hollywood currently contracts with Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). They are paid a flat fee per month for services. ACS is not allowed to act independently and has no decision making powers regarding any aspect of the red light camera program. All decisions are made by the Sheriff’s Department or the City of West Hollywood. Intersection Selection All intersections are selected based on accident rates. The vendor is not allowed to participate in the process and decisions are made by the Sheriff’s Department in conjunction with the City of West Hollywood. Enforcement Currently, citations are only issued to those who travel straight through an intersection. The red light camera system in the City of West Hollywood is not used to enforce right turn or left turn violations. Accident Rates Since the year 2000, at camera enforced intersections, there have only been four accidents where a West Hollywood Resident has been at fault for running a red light. We show no increase in right angle or rear end collisions. Yellow Light Phasing Yellow light times were not lowered upon the implementation of red light cameras. All yellow light phasing is in compliance with 21455.7 of the California Vehicle Code. Citations Citations are generated only in accordance with criteria set forth by the Sheriff’s Department. All citations are reviewed, approved, and then issued only by a sworn peace officer. The Issuance Process Red light camera citations are issued via the US Post Office per 40518(a) CVC. Once mailed, citations are accounted for, and signed by, the US Post Office on the required Certificate of Mailing as proof that all citations are mailed within the mandated 15 day timeframe. Only a notice to appear will be mailed to registered owners. All subsequent notices will either be the result of mutual correspondence or court related documents. There will be no notices or attempts to contact a defendant or registered owner prior to the issuance of an official notice to appear. Oversight Service technicians respond to each camera three times per week for servicing and maintenance. Each visit is documented on a maintenance log that is later verified and signed by a peace officer. In addition to the maintenance performed by the service technicians, a peace officer visits each camera at least twice per month for the purposes of testing and settings verifications. Each visit performed by an officer is documented on a report referred to as an “Officer Audit”. Service technician logs and Officer Audit reports are made available at each court appearance. ’s Department is responsible for an accurate accounting of citations that have been mailed to registered owners. The Vendor is responsible for obtaining the Certificate of Mailing and ensuring that it is delivered to, and signed by, a postal employee. But, at the end of every month, the numbers that are reported to have been mailed by the vendor are verified against the Sheriff’s database. This process ensures that each mailed citation was actually reviewed and approved by a peace officer. |