Author: Rich Connell

Tens of thousands of Los Angeles motorists could see reductions in red-light ticket fines — now hovering at more than $500 with traffic school — under an unusual proposal presented Wednesday at City Hall.

San Fernando Valley Councilman Dennis Zine introduced a motion to study the feasibility of taking the processing of the city’s red-light infractions, and possibly other traffic tickets, out of the hands of the county’s court system. Such a move could cut motorist fines, some of which have risen at three times the rate of inflation in recent years, and increase net revenue to the city, Zine said.

The tactic has been quietly adopted by a handful of California towns, but none the size of Los Angeles. The proposal could trigger a fight with the cash-strapped state, as well as judicial agencies, both of which would lose millions in revenue from Los Angeles’ red-light tickets. Some have questioned the legality of such city-adjudicated ticket programs.

Red-light ticket revenues have grown in recent years as dozens of cities have turned to automated photo enforcement systems to monitor intersections around the clock. Los Angeles alone issues about 3,600 red-light violations a month through its camera systems. Most of those violations have been for rolling right turns. LAPD officials report that the city netted more than $6 million last year from the program after expenses were deducted.

Zine, a former Los Angeles traffic officer, has criticized the jump in red-light ticket costs, which are set by state and county agencies. The fines have become punitive, he has argued, particularly for families struggling in the economic downturn. He said the city receives only about a third of the total fines levied for the red-light tickets its officers issue, while on patrol or via cameras.

If his proposal moves forward, the city would conduct its own administrative hearings on red-light tickets, Zine said. Drivers would still have points against them for the violations reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles, he said. The proposal was sent to the council’s Public Safety and Budget committees.

— Rich Connell 

Times’ interactive graphic credit: Raoul Rañoa

Homicide investigators were en route Sunday night to the scene of a shooting in Compton that left a man dead and a woman wounded.

Details remained sketchy, but Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies said they were called to the 1700 block of Castlegate Avenue, near the junction of the 710 and 105 freeways about 7 p.m.

Both people were taken to the hospital, where the man was pronounced dead. The woman was being treated for an injury that was not considered life threatening, according to the Sheriff’s Department.   

The Times’ Homicide Report database shows recent homicide trends in the area around the shooting scene.   

–Rich Connell

A 20-year-old man was shot and killed early Sunday in a residential area of eastern Long Beach.



The L.A. County coroner’s office identified the victim as James Withers Jr. of Lakewood.

The shooting occurred shortly after 1 a.m. in the 2300 block of Vuelta Grande Avenue, a few blocks west of El Dorado Park golf course, according to Long Beach police.

Withers was hit in the upper body and pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact Long Beach homicide detectives at (562) 570-7244.

–Rich Connell

The 2008 Metrolink disaster in Chatsworth, now formally blamed on an engineer who was text messaging and ran a red light, has prompted federal safety investigators to call for installation of video surveillance cameras in all locomotive control cabs in the country.

Southern California’s five-county commuter service put the nation’s first such cameras in its locomotives last year, part of a series of measures intended to prevent a repeat of the  head-on crash that killed or injured more than 150 passengers. It is one of the most effective ways to enforce safety rules, officials argue. 

But a major railroad union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and  Trainmen, has sued Metrolink, claiming the cameras were illegally installed, violate employees’ privacy rights and can increase safety risks by placing new “psychological burdens” on workers trying to concentrate on their jobs.

The three-angle Metrolink video above gives an example of what the cameras capture.  

What do you say? Are video cameras trained on key transportation workers a good idea or going too far? 

Share your views below.

— Rich Connell

Video: Southern California Regional Rail Authority