Warwick Red Light Cameras Program Launches June 4

WARWICK, RI  — Warwick’s traffic camera array is getting turned up a notch Wednesday as Mayor Frank Picozzi and Warwick Police announcered light cameras installed at 15 busy intersections to deter red light violations, and another 22 near schools.

The Mayor’s office will start red light camera enforcement this month, with a press conference about the program Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in a parking lot at the northeast corner of Greenwich Avenue and Main Avenue, the site of one of the red light cameras, Picozzi’s office announced Monday morning. According to the announcement about the press conference,  there are more than 140 red light running violations a day at the intersection.

At a second intersection, Post Rd & Airport Road, 508 red light violations were recorded in a single day, the Mayor’s office reports.

“These are not isolated incidents. Every one of these violations is a potential crash, injury, or fatality,” according to the Mayor’s office statement announcing the Wednesday press conference launch, “The press event will introduce the program to the public, with remarks from city leaders and law enforcement.”

There will be a 30-day warning period beginning with the launch, according to the Mayor’s office.

Traffic camera use within the city was approved 7-2 in September 2022, with Councilmen Ed Ladouceur and Jeremy Rix dissenting. The decision was opposed by speakers at the meeting, including  Hannah Stern, RIACLU policy associate.

“Neither the policy nor the ordinance protects the privacy of individuals , they do not provide adequate oversight over this technology. The oversight they do provide is flimsy and vague, we think. And we do think that this ordinance and this policy would still facilitate the inappropriate gathering of extreme amounts of data on all individuals who drive by these cameras on a daily basis,” Stern said.

Professor Marc Genest of Warwick, Ph.D., professor of strategy at NWC in Newport, RI, expert on information warfare,  assured councillors approving the system of 10 Flock traffic cameras would trade Warwick residents’ civil liberties for a dubious promise of increased safety.

“This nation was built on civil liberties. And you, right now, are going to decide to take a piece of that away from the residents of Warwick,” Genest said,” “You are on constant surveillance 24-7. I know these are small steps. But with small steps come bigger steps. And you have got to look at the long-term consequences of this. And it’s very, very dangerous to do so. You are literally sacrificing the civil liberties of your residents for just a tiny, tiny bit more security. And then what you’re doing, is your placing all of that information in a private security firm. Not a government security firm, but a private security firm.”

Now there are two such firms with access to that information in the city.

Red Light Cameras Program Approved June 2024

Then City Council President Steve McAllister noted the contract for red light and school zone cameras was out to bid early last year. The red light cameras program and its award to Altumint, was approved by the City Council during its June 17, 2024 meeting.

The number and locations of red light cameras and school area cameras was disclosed in a document requested by Warwick City Councilman Jeremy Rix in March this year, attached at the end of this article. He said the plan may have since changed. The Mayor’s office declined to elaborate when asked to confirm the numbers of cameras, stating details on the program would be announced Wednesday.

Altumint, based in Lanham, MD, provides traffic services and monitoring technology, including speed studies, intersection analyses, system installation and operation, violation capture,  ticket processing, payment collection, court hearing dockets, ongoing maintenance, and client training.

“We engineer, manufacture, and support a visual technology system and citation process using artificial intelligence to capture data on vehicles and people who break the law. We add support and resources for law enforcement to monitor speeding in school zones, work zones, or other areas of concern, running red lights or school bus stop arms, and thefts or altercations—anything compromising community safety,” according to the company’s website.

School zone speed cameras launch this summer

The red-light enforcement program is part of a larger citywide safety initiative. Later this summer, the city will also launch School Zone speed enforcement cameras at 11 locations. According to the document provided by Rix, there will be two cameras installed at each location.

“Mayor Picozzi and the Warwick Police Department are committed to preventing those outcomes. This enforcement effort—combining red light and school zone speed enforcement—is about changing behavior before tragedy strikes,” the Mayor’s office announced. Warwick-Altumint-Speed-Red-Light-Cameras-statement-of-work

Author: Rob Borkowski

Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.