Cleveland voters overwhelmingly decide to rid the city of traffic cameras

Voters in Cleveland made it quite clear that they want traffic cameras in the city to be removed after they overwhelmingly voted “Yes” to Issue 35 on Tuesday, according to USA Today, which reported that more than 78% of voters agreed that the cameras do little to improve the safety of drivers and are nothing more than a money-making scheme for the city.

City officials in Cleveland said that the cameras will be turned off almost immediately, however, the ban doesn’t affect traffic cameras when “a law enforcement officer is present at the location of the device and personally issues the ticket.”

According to Cleveland Media Relations Director Dan Williams, it isn’t feasible to replace all 64 cameras with an officer around the clock, as it would require 192 different officers and would cost the city more than $19 million. Williams was quoted by Fox 8 saying, “I don’t think there’s a plan right now to put officers at every one of those intersections. There are times we just won’t be able to cover those intersections.”

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson warned voters that, without the $6 million in revenue that the camera’s bring to the city government each year, there will undoubtedly need to be budget cuts. He did guarantee, however, that he would not cut funding for recreation centers, playgrounds, or programs for children.