The Chronicle‘s Mike Glenn has details of what HPD plans on doing with its new windfall:
Red light cameras installed at 50 intersections throughout the city have generated more than $6 million for the city since the program was launched last fall, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said Thursday.
HPD officials are now deciding how to spend some of the money.
About $25,000 will be spent on an evaluation of the camera program by Rice University and the Texas Transportation Institute.
“They are going to be looking at everything, including where (the cameras) are placed,” said Executive Assistant Chief Martha Montalvo, who supervises the program.
The evaluation will examine accidents at intersections where cameras have been mounted, compared with surrounding areas, officials said.
The results from the review of the first 20 intersections are expected by the end of January, Montalvo said.
Almost $1 million will go toward equipment upgrades and safety programs aimed at troubled youth, and $635,000 to replace aging video cameras in patrol cars.
Also, $240,000 to buy vehicles that can test a driver’s blood alcohol level, $229,000 to send officers to school zones, $83,000 to work with students who have drug and alcohol problems, and $20,000 for a teenage driver safety program.
Which still leaves a majority of the money untapped. What will HPD do with the rest?
