w00t! Red light cameras in Los Angeles unplugged since June

UPDATE: I personally witnessed a red-light camera being refilled with film and tested, around 3:00 a.m. sometime in mid-November 2005, so the red light cameras are back up and operational. Oh well - it was good while it lasted.
Art

With all credit to BoingBoing's Mark Frauenfelder:

Red light cameras in LA have been unplugged since June, reveals councilman:

Mark Frauenfelder: The red light cameras set up at intersections to take pictures of scofflaws have been turned off since June, because the city was unhappy with the level of service the former operator of the cameras had been providing. When councilman Dennis Zine made the news public, several other councilman became upset that he let the cat out of the bag.

Councilman Bernard C. Parks, a former police chief, also said Zine, a former police officer, should not have revealed the information.

"I don't think it was good" that he told, Parks said. "People see those cameras and slow down. It's a deterrent."

Zine's disclosure came during a debate Monday over awarding a contract to a new vendor for the cameras, which photograph red-light-running drivers and their vehicles' license plates.
...
The LAPD has said the cameras reduced the number of accidents at those intersections by 18%. About 64,000 citations, at $271 each in 2002 but eventually hitting $351, were issued in the first four years.

[Mark] wonder[s] about this. About a month ago, [Mark] posted a story about a Canadian journalist who wrote an article criticizing red light and speed cameras in the city, citing statistics that the cameras "raise about $14 million annually for police" but do nothing to reduce traffic injuries. Link