The City of Colorado Springs recently expanded its red light camera program, but News 5 Investigates discovered the City may not be giving drivers a fair shake before those cameras snap a picture of your license plate.
License plate readers are rapidly reshaping private security in neighborhoods, bringing police surveillance tools to the masses with an automated watchdog that records 24 hours a day. That's leading to angry conflict in otherwise peaceful communities.
License plate readers posted at both entrances to an upscale Aurora neighborhood snapped pictures of passing cars Wednesday, recording the type, color and license plate number of each vehicle and inputting that information into a database.
The bill, co-sponsored by representatives Stephen Humphrey and Jovan Melton, would repeal the right for local jurisdictions to use all automated vehicle identification systems, including photo radar vans and red-light cameras.
The city is relying ever more on crazy-efficient photo enforcement, in the form of red-light cameras at four intersections and roving speed-radar vans that generated nearly 173,000 mailed citations last year.