Speed Camera Audit Should Extend to State’s Maryland SafeZone Program
From my latest piece at Baltimoresun.com
The revelations of the secret audit of Xerox State and Local Solutions’ operation of Baltimore’s speed camera system showing the company had error rates 40 times higher than what city officials were telling the public, should prompt a review of speed cameras in other jurisdictions, including the state.
In June 2010, the same company, then known as ACS State and Local Solutions, won the contract to operate the pilot program for the Maryland SafeZones Program. Xerox acquired ACS that same year.
In November 2012, Red Maryland reported the details of a negative legislative audit of the MarylandSafeZone Program.
The audit revealed that SHA awarded the operator of the pilot system the contract for the full Maryland SafeZone Program — it was the only bidder — even though the company’s proposal was not in compliance with the RFP requirements. Auditors also found that the system did not undergo an independent calibration test — as required by law — until nine months after it began speed monitoring operations.
More importantly the audit also revealed several critical deficiencies in the accuracy of the program’s speed detection capabilities.
