Sultan joins traffic-camera debate with proposal for school zones

Published 12:01 am Monday, October 17, 2011

SULTAN — The city of Sultan might test out speed- enforcement cameras in school zones.

Some City Council members are exploring the idea, City Administrator Deborah Knight said. They’re expected to decide in November if they want to take a proposal to a council vote.

The city was appro

ached in August by Edge Cameras, of Lynnwood, Knight said.

Edge Cameras is a family-owned business that creates high-tech camera systems and some underwater technology, owner John Braun said. The company recently developed speed-enforcement cameras and has pitched them to about 200 small cities and towns, including Sultan.

Sultan could install the cameras in school zones for one month for free, Braun said. That would provide an idea of how many speeders could be ticketed if the cameras went live.

The use of traffic- enforcement cameras has been controversial in Snohomish County and elsewhere. Monroe is embroiled in a legal battle over whether its use of the cameras should be up to a binding public vote. In Lynnwood, two cops are under outside investigation for potential conflicts of interest in their dealings with a traffic-camera company.

Sultan officials are interested in traffic-enforcement cameras because people have been complaining about speeders in the city, Knight said.

“I just think council members are looking for opportunities to address the speeding on city streets,” she said. “They’ve heard from community members that it’s a problem in their neighborhoods.”

Braun, with Edge Cameras, gave a pitch to a City Council subcommittee in September.

Two council members who were at the meeting expressed interest, Knight said. City staffers then decided to research how the city might process camera tickets and how much money the program might cost balanced against ticket revenue. Staff members plan to share their findings with the subcommittee in a few weeks.

A major question will be how the city might hold court hearings for contested tickets.

Tickets issued by cameras are treated like parking infractions under state law. Cities that install cameras must provide a hearing process for ticket-related challenges.

Snohomish County District Courts don’t have the staff, and not every city has a municipal court.

Monroe, which faced the same dilemma this spring, hired a county judge to work part-time at City Hall.

The Edge Cameras system hasn’t been around long enough to see how small cities will handle the issue, Braun said.

Camera violations also need to be reviewed by a person so faulty ones get tossed, and tickets will have to be approved by a law officer. If Sultan officials decide to install cameras and issue tickets, it’s too early to tell how that might work, Knight said.

Monroe and Lynnwood have police officers review videos of violations, but Sultan contracts with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office for police services.

No enforcement cameras are proposed in Sultan along U.S. 2.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.