Police Chief Has Issues with Publisher’s Views

To The Editor:
One thousand one hundred fifty five is the number of motor crashes that occurred on the roadways of Middle Township in 2010. Two hundred ninety three is the number of people transported to the hospital as a result of crashes in 2010. What is the role of government in providing safe roadways and preventing these crashes and injuries? What is the proper balance between preventing injuries and government gone too far? While I respect Publisher Art Hall’s opinion, I do not believe that comparing China’s plan to add 500,000 cameras city-wide to Middle Township’s proposed plan to add safety cameras at two township intersections is a fair comparison.
Hall asserts the evidence is not strong for the safety argument. A number of independent and respected institutions such as Iowa State University, Old Dominion University, Rice University, Texas A & M University, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted studies that indicate these programs improve safety. Intersection Safety Camera Programs have been in place across the country for almost 20 years.
Some have asserted that rear end collisions increase as a result of the cameras; but there is no evidence to support that claim, and not one municipality in New Jersey currently in operation has seen an increase in these accidents during the first 12 months of the pilot program. In some areas of the country, it has resulted in public backlash. We have researched some of these programs in Florida and Texas, thanks to citizens that responded to our requests for input last summer. In my view, these programs failed ultimately through public backlash because they were poorly regulated and geared towards generating money, not attacking reckless driving behavior.
In New Jersey, a police officer reviews the images and makes the call, not a computer. I said in public meetings last summer and at numerous community meetings since, we would only issue tickets if a vehicle enters an intersection from behind the white line when the light is red and failing to stop while making a right turn on red when the vehicle is traveling over 10 miles per hour. A 5,000-pound motor vehicle driving on our roadways in a manner described above is dangerous, not nearly nabbing a few additional law breakers for very minor infractions as described by Hall. How often does this reckless behavior take place? Well, based on a one-week study last summer, it happened between 60 and 80 times in a single eight-hour period.
In my view, technology has to be part of the answer in protecting our citizens. Recently, in New York City, cameras were used to help identify and arrest a 35-year-old old man who kidnapped and dismembered an 8-year-old boy.
We cannot have an all or nothing approach with technology; there must be checks and balances. One of the greatest things about our country and the starkest contrast with China is a 200-year-old plus document called the Constitution. This awesome document has adapted to changes in technology while still ensuring protection of our rights. In my opinion, it is not an encroachment of our freedoms when we weigh the need for expectation of privacy in a public intersection against the public’s interest in reducing crashes and injuries. The Middle Township Police Department has received significant positive feedback on the proposed program and I encourage residents to properly educate themselves and voice their opinion. As public servants, it is our job to listen.
CHRISTOPHER LEUSNER
Court House
(ED. NOTE: Leusner is Chief of Police in Middle Township.)