OIG report finds major issues with NOPD traffic cameras

NOPD
Photo credit City of New Orleans

A report by the New Orleans Office of Inspector General finds major issues with the NOPD’s redlight and speeding camera program. The report says evaluators found a lack of clear management and lack of communication lead to problems for drivers.

The report found the NOPD traffic camera program had no responsibility for coordinating with schools in determining when they were open. This led to traffic cameras issuing tickets in school zones when schools were not in session, violating a city ordinance.

“Our evaluation of the TCSP identified several areas of concern in the administration of the program that should be immediately addressed," said Inspector General Derry Harper. "Most of these issues can be resolved by designating which agency or department is responsible for overall operations of the TCSP.”

Harper says when drivers overpaid on their traffic camera tickets, there was no process for the city to contact that driver to issue a refund. In those cases, the city simply kept the extra money. In total, the city kept $730,000 in overpayments which Harper says should've been transferred to the State Treasurer through the Louisiana Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.

The report also found the city relied primarily on the traffic camera contractor, American Traffic Solutions now called Verra Mobility, to manage the camera program.

Other issues the report found include, tickets being issued beyond the legal deadline allowed, and a lack of quality control for camera tickets. The OIG gave the city its recommendations on how to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the traffic camera program.

Since its launch back in 2008, the program issued over 400,000 citations and an estimated $24 million in revenue.