Local lawmakers have approved a plan to bring red light cameras to Herndon.
The unanimous vote by the Herndon Town Council at last week’s meeting (Feb. 3) officially triggered the process to install the cameras — which are meant to catch and ticket drivers who run red lights — at intersections across the community.
“There are a lot of close calls out there at stop signs, at stop lights or just on our sidewalks … I think this is a good step to the safer neighborhoods and traffic calming,” Councilmember Cesar del Aguila said before casting his vote.
Though the decision whether to adopt the cameras is up to individual localities, those who choose to move forward must proceed in accordance with Virginia law, which outlines a structured process and places a limit on the number of cameras allowed.
Herndon will be capped at 10 total cameras under the state law. But before residents will see the cameras on street corners, the town must first conduct an “engineering safety analysis” to address “signal timing and other location-specific safety features” at each potential location.
The town must also procure a contractor to manage the cameras, which will identify potential law breakers. Police officers, however, would verify any recorded violations before a penalty is issued.
Traffic light violations are punishable in Virginia with fines up to $350. Like in neighboring jurisdictions, no points would be issued to law-breakers.
“It’s not a monetary thing, it’s a safety thing,” Councilmember Kelvin Garcia said.
Garcia, who cited his day job as a traffic court judge in D.C., added that “this is what the town needs.”
Garcia and del Aguila were the only two councilmembers to speak before the vote. One meeting attendee raised concerns about Flock Safety cameras, which have been adopted by the Herndon and Fairfax County police departments to read license plates.
Mayor Keven LeBlanc expressed that the red light cameras are not the same, noting that the newly adopted ordinance requires that all data must be purged within 60 days after any civil penalty is paid.
“This policy .. does have requirements around the storage and the use and the protections for all of our citizens’ data,” LeBlanc said.
The Herndon Police Department advocated for the adoption of red light cameras as a tool that could help reduce crashes and other road safety issues. When proposing the initiative, Chief Steven Pihonak told the council last year that the cameras would help expand the department’s reach in the town.
“We’re hoping to leverage this technology to free up our officers for other higher priority calls,” Pihonak said on Nov. 5.
The cameras would also supplement the town’s forthcoming real-time crime center, which will help Herndon to centralize its policing and crime-fighting efforts.
“What this is going to do is harness all this technology in one centralized location,” Pihonak said. “A lot of police departments across America are going to these real-time crime centers [and] they pay dividends.”
While Fairfax County has speed cameras, it has yet to install red light cameras. Fairfax City, however, operates 10 different red light cameras as part of its “Respect Red” program, and the devices can be found in nearby Arlington and Alexandria City.
