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Program History
Focus On Safety On Scottsdale Streets
Scottsdale contracts with a private vendor for the operation of photo enforcement cameras at nine fixed sites on city streets, as well as four photo enforcement vans that can be stationed anywhere they are needed.
Fixed Detection Systems
Fixed locations are chosen by police and traffic engineering staff primarily based on traffic volume and collision history. These systems use sensors imbedded in the pavement to detect vehicle speeds and positions. Most fixed systems detect both speed and red-light violations.
Mobile Detection Systems
The city currently contracts for four vans. There are more than 400 currently approved deployment locations within the city, including 40 school zones. The remaining sites are equally distributed between citizen complaint and high collision locations.
Program History
Scottsdale has used photo enforcement cameras since 1997. The city adopted the technology after a period in the early 1990s when collisions increased markedly. After the implementation of photo enforcement, the number of collisions leveled off, even though Scottsdale’s population (and number of vehicles using the city’s streets) continued to increase. In 2006, the city obtained permission from the State of Arizona to test fixed photo enforcement cameras on the Loop 101 Freeway where the freeway crosses Scottsdale’s boundaries. The city installed six cameras between Scottsdale Road and the 90th Street/Pima Road exit and operated them from January to October of 2006. Preliminary results from an analysis of the demonstration program showed that it reduced average speeds by about 10 mph. The total number and severity of collisions also declined during the demonstration program.
At the request of Gov. Janet Napolitano, the city reactivated the Loop 101 cameras in February 2007. In June 2007, the city entered an agreement with the Department of Public Safety that provides for DPS to take over administration of the program. New cameras have been installed and DPS now is administering the program.
