Corrupt Red Light Camera Company Sued By Chicago for $300M

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Chicago wants $300 million from the company it hired to photograph, ticket and follow drivers after it was revealed that executives bribed city officials for the contract, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.

Executives for Redflex paid over $2 million to city officials through a bag man for the $124 million contract from the city, which started in 2003. City officials are suing for roughly triple that amount, including penalties.

Redflex has been accused of handing out thousands of unnecessary tickets to motorists, including 13,000 in Chicago alone, according to the Tribune.

The CEO of Redflex, Karen Finley, stepped down after pleading guilty to bribery charges. The city official accused of accepting the $2 million in bribe payments, John Bills, is facing federal charges later this year.

The controversial cameras face an uncertain future in many cities. Officials in Tampa are reviewing that city’s contract that fines motorists more than $150 per offense, with the contracting company pocketing nearly half that amount. The cameras don’t produce significant revenue, Tampa officials say, and the cameras may not make problematic intersections any safer.

“When I saw the numbers of the money and where the money is going right now, that’s money being taken out of our city and it’s quite a large amount,” Tampa City Council member Yolie Capin told the Tampa Tribune. “We felt it should be used for engineering those problematic intersections.”


Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Superdessucke Superdessucke on Sep 01, 2015

    Kudos. These f'ers took me down a few times. I hope the politicians who took my money and used it for pork belly pet projects go down too.

  • Golden2husky Golden2husky on Sep 01, 2015

    I suggest Civil Disobedience...destroy the equipment.

    • -Nate -Nate on Sep 02, 2015

      It's a simple thing to spray over the lens with Foo-Foo can paint..... I imagine this is all bluster and no action though . -Nate

  • Notapreppie Notapreppie on Sep 02, 2015

    This just in: People are still shocked by corruption in Chicago.

  • Mechaman Mechaman on Sep 03, 2015

    This from a Chicagoan (60 years), a lot of what you hear is exaggerated. That being said, there are two parties here, the guys on the take and the squares not on the take. All other labels are irrelevant ( they call Rahm Mayor Rahmney in some circles here ) I knew the cameras were wack before the 'investigation'.. when one was installed near my home, I went and timed the yellow. A full second shorter than any other yellow in the area.

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