Xerox Becomes a Red Light Camera Company

The Newspaper
by The Newspaper

Xerox Corporation announced yesterday that it would acquire Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) for $6.4 billion. ACS is a major, long-time player in the speed camera, red light camera, tolling and parking ticket business. Xerox, famous for its domination of the photocopying market from the 1960s to the 1980s, sees the purchase as a way to reinvent itself and dominate the business outsourcing market. “By combining Xerox’s strengths in document technology with ACS’s expertise in managing and automating work processes, we’re creating a new class of solution provider,” Xerox CEO Ursula M. Burns said in a statement. “A game-changer for Xerox, acquiring ACS helps us expand our business and benefit from stronger revenue and earnings growth.”


The outsourcing of government and law enforcement functions to private companies is a growing market. US Public Technologies pioneered the business model in which a private company pays a city for the right to issue automated traffic citations. The company, in turn, is paid based on a percentage of the revenue collected, meaning the city faces a no-risk, all-profit proposition. USPT quickly convinced twenty-seven cities like Baltimore, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Washington, DC to share the profit from automated ticketing machines. In December 1998, defense contractor Lockheed Martin saw the long-term potential in USPT’s contracts and bought the company outright.

Lockheed continued expanding the traffic camera and parking ticket outsourcing business until it was purchased by ACS in August 2001 for $825 million. Since then, the company has been plagued with scandal. In December, a Dallas judge ruled that ACS had been illegally operating its automated ticketing machines without a proper license. In March 2007, ACS was accused of vandalizing speed cameras in Washington, DC after losing the contract to a competitor ( view PDF of complaint).

In 2006, ACS faced bribery charges in Edmonton, Canada after police officers accepted lavish gifts from the company—including travel, sports tickets and female escort services—in return for a recommendation that ACS be given a no-bid, $90 million photo ticketing contract. In October 2008, a judge let the police officers and ACS off the hook without bringing the case to a jury.

Under the terms of the proposed Xerox-ACS merger, ACS will continue to operate as an independent division under the leadership of current ACS CEO Lynn Blodgett who will answer to Burns. The deal requires regulatory and shareholder approval with closing expected in the first quarter of 2010.

[courtesy thenewspaper.com]

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  • Chrisaustin Chrisaustin on Oct 16, 2009

    ahh earth to xerox keep making bank. don't fire your MBA's the person who posted the "earth to xerox fire your MBA's" probably doesn't have one so nice try buddy maybe you should enroll in Phoenix online then come back in two or three years with your MBA something tells me your post will change.

  • Bthoskins Bthoskins on May 07, 2013

    What a corrupt, terrible company. "Protecting" our streets meanwhile paying off and bribing governments to get the contracts. Sad to think of the wasted resources and robbery of our ciizens in the name of safety, when multiple studies have shown the cameras don't actually improve safety at all. Makes me disrepect Xerox for getting into such a dirty business.

  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
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