Milwaukee mayoral candidates Barrett, Taylor, split on red light cameras

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Mayor Tom Barrett says he is more in favor of red light cameras than he was in the past because there is now a solution he supports going through the State Capitol.

“I go to the scenes of these accidents," Barrett said of reckless driving in the city. "I go to the scenes where the little kids have been killed, and you’re just looking at this, and you’re thinking oh my god, we’ve got to do something, and it’s got to be something that is really meaningful.”

The proposal is a pilot program sponsored by Milwaukee state Representative David Crowley, D-Milwaukee. It would cap each aldermanic district at five cameras maximum, only ticket those going 20 miles over the speed limit and all citations would be reviewed by an actual officer.

"We've put some parameters around it to make sure that, one, 90 days of a warning period making sure there is a public campaign letting folks know that this is happening," Crowley said. "You have to have signs up with every camera that goes up."

But Lena Taylor says other cities have run into problems with red light cameras.

Taylor said it would be better to educate drivers and make physical improvements to roads than just shell out tickets.

"I believe there are other solutions than just running to punitive effects," Taylor said. "We are not going to be able to jail our way out of the issues that have kind of been kind of done from decades of neglect."

Crowley said the state legislature is essentially done for the year, and so he doesn't expect his proposal to pass until the next legislative session.

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