Massachusetts Town Meetings Reject Red Light Cameras

Massachusetts Town Meetings Reject Red Light Cameras
Residents of two small towns in Massachusetts reject red light cameras in town meetings.

Town meetingRed light camera programs were shot down this month in two Massachusetts jurisdictions that use the broadly representative "town meeting" form of government. With a large number of residents participating, Foxborough last week turned aside attempts by Police Chief Edward O'Leary to install photo enforcement. O'Leary's motion proposal by a wide margin.

In Swampscott, sixty percent of members rejected cameras in a November 13 town meeting. An earlier town meeting in April had also shot down the idea, but the town's selectmen attempted to save the program by commissioning committee to examine the issue. The committee's final report suggested the cameras would cause more safety problems than they would prevent.

"The committee feels that utilizing the town's law enforcement powers to raise revenue is inappropriate," the report stated.

Source: Deputy chief to be sworn in (Boston Globe (MA), 11/26/2006)