A CT city is looking into use of red light, speed cameras. ‘It’s a force multiplier,’ mayor says

City officials in Bristol are hoping to have red light and speed cameras in place by the end of next year at multiple intersections.

The proposed plan, which is in its infant stages, is in response to numerous complaints from residents about motorists who disregard traffic laws and make the roads unsafe, according to Mayor Jeff Caggiano.

“It’s the number one complaint in city hall,” Caggiano said, adding that the city regularly sees two to three people at each Board of Police Commissioners meeting demanding officials take action.

To address these concerns, Chief of Police Mark Morello approached city leaders and requested they begin the process to install red light and speed cameras in Bristol, Caggiano said. This was made possible when state legislators in 2023 passed a law allowing the automated traffic enforcement devices.

Caggiano said the first step in the process involves adopting a city ordinance in line with the camera use. The matter has been added to the Ordinance Committee’s agenda for its January meeting, Caggiano said.

The ordinance process alone could take between two to three months, which would include having a public hearing on the issue. The city would also need to put the project out for a bid to determine which vendor would perform the work to install the devices. After that, Caggiano said it would likely take another few months before the state would approve the city’s application.

“So we’re talking nine months to a year,” Caggiano said.

Currently, the state has received applications for red light and speed cameras from officials in Washington, New Haven and Stamford, according to Josh Morgan, spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation.

Washington became the first Connecticut town to receive approval for the enforcement devices — a process that was intentionally made out to be thorough and somewhat lengthy to ensure the devices are not abused or used as a revenue-generating mechanism. The legislation also mandates that any money generated from the cameras must be re-invested by municipalities in the program or used for other traffic-related safety improvements.

“That was deliberate because this isn’t about generating money for the state of Connecticut,” Morgan said. “It’s not about generating revenue for any of the towns or cities. It’s about changing driver behavior and improving safety.”

“It’s not a gotcha, money-generating program,” Morgan said. “It’s really to reduce the amount of dangerous behaviors that we see on our roads, reduce the number of crashes and save lives.”

In Connecticut, applications must reviewed by the DOT’s Office of the State Traffic Administration within 60 days. They are approved for a period of three years and must be renewed if they are to be used beyond that period.

Any violations that occur within the first 30 days of the devices being installed can result in a written warning.
Any citation beyond 30 days can’t exceed $50 for first offense and $75 for each additional offense, according to the DOT.

Morgan said data has shown that automated enforcement devices have proven to be effective in slowing drivers down and reducing accidents.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, controlled studies have found that the devices likely reduce crashes resulting in injuries by 20% to 25% at “conspicuous, fixed camera sites.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, fixed unit speed enforcement devices on “urban principal arterials” have been found to reduce all crashes by 54% and those involving injuries by 47%.

Morgan said the state’s pilot program using speed cameras in work zones, which was launched in 2023, further demonstrated the devices’ ability to curb driver habits. Through the pilot program, which has since been made permanent and expanded for regular use in as many as about 15 work locations, drivers were issued a warning for their first violation. Subsequent violations led to a citation.

According to Morgan, about 25,000 warnings went out but only several hundred citations were issued.

“That was just another proof-point that people were changing their behavior after they got that warning,” Morgan said. “These automated enforcement devices have been proven to work.”

Caggiano said the cameras in Bristol would bolster recent efforts by police to increase speed enforcement. Traffic enforcement in the city dwindled during the COVID-19 pandemic, but has since been stepped up in the form of warnings to exceed pre-pandemic numbers.

According to Caggiano, police in 2024 have already issued more than 1,700 written warnings after issuing a total of 1,452 warnings in all of 2019. Next year, however, he said drivers won’t be so fortunate.

“A good warning for people is the warnings are done,” Caggiano said. “If you’re violating traffic rules, our police officers are going to write you a ticket.”

Though he still has some concerns he would like addressed about speed cameras, Caggiano said he believes this type of enforcement can be effective.

“It’s a force multiplier,” Caggiano said. “It’s not going to take away from any of the other stuff that we’re doing. I think we have 250 miles or so of roads, and it’s hard to be everywhere at once.”

Opponents of speed cameras often point to civil liberty concerns and condemn the “big brother” approach.

“I would invite them to come and see the process to learn how it’s going to operate,” Caggiano said. “We still have to uncover that. I have a mindful eye toward that as well, too. I want to make sure that this is the right thing to do.”

The mayor noted that each violation captured by the cameras would need to be reviewed by a police officer before someone received a citation. In other words, it is not an automated system that simply sends citations out to each driver who runs a red light or goes over the speed limit. Each instance is decided on a case-by-case basis. Factors like time of day, traffic flow and how egregious the violation is can play a role on whether a motorist is ticketed, Caggiano said.

Areas where city officials would likely look to put the systems into place would be Shrub Road, Redstone Hill Road and potentially other areas.

“We would target the areas where we’ve had major complaints,” Caggiano said.

Caggiano also said he has a simple message for anyone who does not want to see the cameras used in Bristol: “Don’t speed, don’t go through traffic lights.”