WOKV INVESTIGATES: JSO, Redflex catching up on old red light violations

If you ran a red light and thought you got away with it, keep an eye on your mailbox.

Until now, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the vendor running the red light cameras, Redflex, have not had access to state registration/license records which show your most recent information- including address. That means many of the violations mailed out actually bounced back because they were sent to the wrong location.

JSO says Redflex has now gained access to the databases, so they’re in the process of updating all outstanding violations and reissuing them. That means if you ran a red- even months ago- you may see the repercussions soon.  The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately have a number on how many violations would be reissued, but estimated there are “hundreds”.

WOKV obtained the contract between Redflex and the City of Jacksonville, however, and it specifically says “Notices of Violations shall not issue later than 30 days after such Violation.” If the violation goes unpaid 30 days after it’s issued, it then becomes a formal traffic citation, and the contract says “citations issued pursuant to the Program shall be mailed by Redflex, via certified U.S. Mail no later than 60 days following the date of the violation.” There is no mention of whether an improper address can justifiably delay that timeline.

We’ve reached out to Redflex and JSO to see why you should still be on the hook, but have not yet heard back.

I asked Sheriff John Rutherford why it has taken so long to get this glitch fixed- some cameras have been active more than a year and a half. He says they have been waiting for authorization from the state.

In fact, JSO has now added a third officer to their team which monitors the red light camera program in order to catch up on the backlog created by what they’re calling this “readdressing issue”. We asked whether the additional officer would stay on even after they catch up, and JSO wasn’t sure at this time. The exact figure on how much the Sheriff’s Office pays for this enforcement was also not immediately available, but the money does come out of the JSO budget, which is funded through your tax dollars.

In documents obtained by WOKV which Redflex submitted as part of their bid for the program, they guarantee “Total Cost Ownership” in their pricing model.  The documents further state that Redflex will allow the City to “recoup its overhead expense prior to addressing the Redflex invoices,” meaning any cost incurred to run the program should be covered by money from the violations before Redflex is paid. We’ve asked Redflex whether that should include the cost of the additional officer needed to compensate for the glitch and are awaiting response. Currently, that is coming from the JSO budget.

The efficiency of the red light camera program has come under the microscope following a WOKV investigation which found the number of crashes taking place at many intersections monitored by red light cameras has actually risen. You can find full details on that investigation attached to the left. The Sheriff still stands by the program, however, because most intersections have seen a decline in the number of side impact crashes, although rear end impact is rising.