Cops focusing in on speed cameras
(CNS): With speeding motorists remaining a major concern for the public and almost always one of the issues raised at police community meetings by residents, the RCIPS has confirmed that they are planning to install speed cameras in the future. However, police management says it will take time to tender and install the equipment and it will also require the introduction of necessary legislation. With almost 400 miles of roads in Cayman, the RCIPS believes the introduction of the cameras will help curb speeders and make the roads safer as cops can't be everywhere at once. In the meantime, the police are promising more speed traps to put the breaks on local road racers.
However, although the police are likely to put speed cameras on main roads, more often than not public concern over speeding applies to local neighborhoods, where kids are out playing or where people's home lives are disturbed by drivers with heavy feet on the gas pedal along community roads. But as the public is urging the RCIPS to use technology to clamp down on speeding, the police have said they are working on it.
Speaking on Cayman27 this week, Chief Superintendent Kurt Walton said, “I think it will be effective. If you look at the amount of roads we have in the Cayman Islands, we actually have over 396 miles of roads … there’s over 1,300 named roads in the Cayman Islands. We cannot put police officers on every single road. So having the additional asset of speed cameras will certainly allow us to have that extra resource that would certainly aid us.”
He warned, however, that implementation could take years as the law will need to be changed and a tender process followed before anything can be installed.
Category: Crime
I can't tell you how many times i've seen police cars going well over the speed limit themselves (not in pursuit or with lights/siren on). How can you expect the public to follow the laws if the police don't do it themselves.
Also, police very rarly pull anyone over for speeding. I've seen people fly past cop cars going 15+ miles over the limit and never get pulled over. How about they just do their jobs and stop wasting the Governments time and money…
Ok let's shed some light here ..ok so the government wants to spend millions of dollars on speed camera's to do what ? It's always spend money on this and that but never take the time out to think why these young drivers are racing on the road !!!!! Maybe it's because they have nowhere else to do it … All the politians come on the radio and live TV talking about the youths or the future but have not yet put anything in place to help better them … The millions of dollars the government is spending on camera's how about you give it to Cayman Islands Hot Road association to build somewhere to teach the youngsters how to drive, how to control a car in a controlled environment … Not saying that it will stop everyone from speeding on the public roads but at least it will give them a chance to learn and give them another option to drive fast in a safe and safe and controlled environment !!! We were all kids at one point in life and most of us used to do the same thing when we were younger … Just food for thought .. Thing about it … God bless and have a good night everyone
During the 80s and 90s you knew that if you exceeded the speed limits on a regular basis you would get caught. South Sound and Bodden Town often had speed traps. Over the past few years things have changed, and getting a ticket these days is less likely than being struck by lightning. I remember when the Police threatened to confiscate cars that had radar detectors on board. Nowadays it appears that tinted windows, covered number plates, colored lights, expired licences and texting on roundaouts are all okay, except during the RCIPS's much loved and idiosyncratic 'crackdowns.' I think they must have a 'Crackown Calendar' somewhere that includes things like 'DUI December' and Tint Takedown Tuesdays.
The Police just need to get out there and do their job…period!
Ok 2 things…first they need to make sure another companydoes the next phase of the installations to insure that the country got exactly what they paid for the last time. Second..since radar guns are illegal in Cayman and GPS units are not how do you stop the GPS speed camera warning systems being used. When I was on the Autobahn my rental car kept beeping at me. At first I had no idea what it was then I noticed it would do it about a mile or so before every speed camera. After a few double checks I then felt much more confident in increasing my speed. Speed cameras do not work.
Where are the cops, and how do they account for their time? Are they working on solving murders? Are they arresting drug kingpins? Are they patrolling our porous border? For all these man hours, we don't hear or see enough coinciding success. We don't hear about big busts or gang breakups. No gang leaders have been arrested in years. So I ask, not to be cruel, but because I really don't know…
Speed bumps engineered to allow safe passage at the maximum speed of the road where they are installed would be much more cost effective. For example the speed bump/perestrian crossing by the Govt. Admin Building can be driven over comfortably at 25 mph. This is the post speed limit and thus no need to slow down unles the crossing is in use. If you go much faster you will get quite a jolt. This type of engineered crossing could be used on a lot of streets with similar results. No camera costs, no system costs, no administrative costs, long lasting, can be used for Ped-Xing's where necessary, etc..
I don't think speed bumps are a good solution, I think driving over that bump on a daily basis causes excessive wear on your suspension.
Yes. As long as they are the speed humps. The speed bumps, such as the one on the road opposite the High Scool (from Walker's to S. Church St., by Pure Art), are a real pain since you can't go over them at more than about 10 mph. Which on a 25mph road is a great jolt.
I appreciate the thought process, and traffic calming measures can and do work, but not speed bumps, they promote the premature wear and breakage of shock absorbers and springs, there is also the issue with emergency vehicles, ambulances in particular. They've also been shown to damage nearby buildings with the repeated impact of vehicles.
I cannot see that engineered humps would cause any premature wear as long as your speed is not faster than the limit.
"Ped-Xings", or worse "Pred-Xing's" with an apostrophe used in pluralisation, has the English langugage really sunk this low?
Road Racing.
I think it is obvious to the public which main intersections should have constant police presence (i.e. Hurley's roundabout, Shamrock Road, Esterly Tibbets, Linford Pierson Hwy, etc)
What's not so obvious, and which I found out recently, is that there are officlal and organized "quarter and full mile" races going on between midnight and 4am on Friday and Saturday nights. Invites amd meetups are usually done by texting. The two main locations for the moment are
1. Quarter Mile: Lawrence Boul. (In front of the Marquee Plaza).
2. Full Mile: Shamrock Road Circle from Hurleys roundabout to prospect point roundabout and back.
These are very organized races and there are different scheduled races for motorcycles and cars.
There should be a new offence in the Penal Code of "Criminally Not Having A Life" and then we could round up all these losers in one go.
Now that this information hasbeen made public – and I am assuming that you speak from a point of knowledge – I trust the police will take heed and be in the vicinity at the specific times.
Thanks! I'll have to check it out. lol
So will these cameras be monitored by sleeping policemen?…
So are these cameras also going to be purchased for millions of dollars from the same company that made loads of money from the existing cameras? Was the relationship of a high government official with that security firm ever investigated? If it had been anybody else doing something like this cries of major corruption would be heard!
Thank you!
Yup more cameras will solve everything. Why dont we get some to watch the coastline and stop all the drugs and guns from coming in. The Police wont have anything to do but watch TV. They will probably fall asleep though or they will forget to record like at the Government Gas station Ha Ha
What a mess… what next? speed bumps on all the roads?
Jack#ss
I guess some security company needs to make sure that there are more camera contracts on the horizon once they finish the current CCTV roll-out, so that they don't run late on their new mortgage payments.
Investigation for CNS potentially, curious which company has the contract for the supply and installation of all these cameras and curious who the owners are behind that company.
“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice. Welcome to Wonderland, yo.
2:28 Good luck in finding that one out…lmao lmao silent partners is silence is golden
PHEW!! Just in time for another commitee!
Lets get three guesses who is going to supply this?????
All together now, "the Piss Poor Management will!".
"Committee, committee, committee" is to Alden what "Toga, toga, toga" was to Animal House.
Ask the Lodge Grand Wizard and his elves.
Yet another knee jerk proclamation that hasn't received any serious thought. Just how will the RCIPS serve tickets to the anti-social residents that don't have a valid PO Box? Are they pllanning to go door to door with these things? This is going to be much much more time consuming and costly than actually going out and doing their job manually, like they should be doing and like we are already paying them to do. Only in Cayman.
Door-to-door mail delivery works in large parts of the world, why not here?
More paper work to get lost or #uck-up and another Item we have to waste our time on defending ourselves.
COP BLOCK
Will they know how to use them?
Will the cops prosecute their own country man when he or she shows up on the camera?Last year I reported a theft, when the officer found out he was of her same nationality she was not interested in the investigation.
We are totally f@@@ked!!
If indeed that was the case, why didn't you go and see someone higher up in the hieracy of the police department. After all if what you say is true then this is corruption. You are a part of the problem or maybe you just made this up out your head and are a troll. I suspect this to be the case.
Whilst I have to admit I don't like these things for this to work you need a) a complete and up to date list of registered vehicles b) visible number plates c) number plates at all! otherwise the only people you will be sending speeding tickets to are those that are otherwise law abiding.
I would support the use of the ANPR systems – automatic number plate recognition, these ID cars that aren't taxed, inspected or insured, flag them and the police are dispatched to stop the cars in question. However see a, b and c above and add in the insurance companies to the mix and I can forsee plenty of people being stopped because the insuramce company switched a number, didn't update the system in time, and same with vehicle liscensing.
Oh and the benefit of having patrol cars is that you don't know where to expect them, plus all the elctronic wizardry in the world won't stop DUI or dangerours drivers.
There are many low tech ways to enure people are taxed, inspected and insured, start with that before stumping up for expensive electronics.
I agree. Very strange priorities. RCIPS could patrol any of our parking lots and ticket for expired coupons, obscured plates, illegal tint, tinted indicator lights – even tinted headlights. Imagine if the RCIPS went after taxis for bald tires, roadworthiness, and emissions checks? Those vehicles are transporting our guests!
Must be the idea of some consultant and I am sure someone will be payed a kickback
thats how it works here
A real Banana Republic. watch it now.
Waste of money, spend this money on hiring additional traffic cops. These cops then can stop the speeders and while writing the ticket, also check vehicle licensing, drugs, weapons and dark tint. A speeder should be an oppportunity to stop someone and check their car and what they are up to, maybe they just robbed somewhere. A camera isn't going to give you that.
Speeding is NOT the problem. People driving ridiculously slowly, drivers who can't use roundabouts, don't indicate, don't give way, don't keep left, run red lights or park in a way that obstructs traffic are just as dangerous. We don't need speed cameras, we just need the cops to go out at rush hour and educate or issue tickets to all the drivers they see driving poorly. Give them a $100 ticket that can be waived if they attend a driving course and the standard will improve very quickly.
Putting in cobblestone or sleeping police men would be more effective.
We already have over 300 sleeping policemen!
Pot holes are more effective than cobblestone and cost nothing to install.
I think the current problems stem from the large numbers of sleeping policemen in the RCIPS as it is.
All of these thumbs downs for this comment but peer reviewed scientific research backs my comment that these solutions are far more effective than cameras. Cameras collect revenue, but don't improve driving much. Cobblestone or speed bumps force drivers to decrease speed.
Show me a speed hump in Cayman and I'll show you a well-worn patch of grass where taxis and trucks have veered to avoid the bump and carry their speed.
Hallelujah! What has taken so long?! Raise money and make roads safer. For safe drivers, what's not to like?
The idiots posting comments about this not working don't know what they're talking about. Here are some quotes from a 2004 Economist article on the subject:
"The mere presence of cameras slows traffic: deaths and injuries drop on average by 35% where they're installed."
http://www.economist.com/node/2647639
And how will you know who the driver of the car is or will it be the registered owner of the car who will have to pay these speeding tickets. How exactly will this be enforced for company vehcles with say multiple drivers
Yes and just who will collect these speed camera fines. Our already super rich Security Mafia we have in place. Get dat money mi Lodge Bro!! aaah boy this little place run by the chosen few. Just another big theft & fraud being planned to fleece the people who live on this island
WELL SAID!
Write more, educate the people with the TRUTH!
You won't be able to get car registration renewed with open fines on your plate. Easy.
What good will speed cameras be when the police won't be able to read the licence plates becuase of the dark covers on them?
Why don't they just put traffic cops in the problem areas…….
then youll complain about cops sitting around and not taking care of the "real" problems.
I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about a cop in a good speed trap with his radar gun out. One cop, six potential spots, roll a dice each time to see where you're going to go (unpredictable), problem solved and no complaints.
"Traffic cops" you did notice that part right?
There are enough officers to go around here. FACT!
Speed Traps Yes. (and more neighbourhood patrols for anti-social speeders, noise polution, loitering with intent, etc.) – Speed Cameras, No. They've been a thorn in the public's side in every country they've been emplaced. (Only thing worse are 'yellow light' cameras at intersections.)
Also, please put something on all the traffic signals to catch the idiots running red lights.
Amen.
Darn rights. We need speed camera's And red light camera's as well.
Dont speed, don't run red lights. And there is nothing to worry about.
Everyone seems to always be in a rush, to get no where in a hurry.
I come from the UK where, after nearly two decades of bull, the authorities are finally accepting that the old GATSO-style fixed speed cameras don't work.
If you go for speed cameras invest in the average speed version known as SPECS. Two of these will cover the whole of Bodden Town and force drivers to stay at or below the speed limit along this dangerous stretch of road.
This is completly UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Maybe you can share your thought process on this, citing the relevant clause(s) that this impacts.
I know I am very excited at reading more, I am sure others are too.
What about video cameras in stores catching shoplifters? Unconstitutional ?
Numerous studies in England have proved that speed cameras do not reduce accidents. They just screw the public for doing 31 in a 30 and increase government revenue.
Exactly the point – its about the money, not about the accidents. Problem is, they wont be able to read the plates because everyone will buy those covers. The police dont enforce the law on obscuring the plate so…
Well then do 30! Du!
In the UK they allow a 5-mile an hour margin of error, so you have to be doing 36 before you get a ticket.
CNS, can i suggest that you please remove that comment, saying it could be possible to increase Government revenues in this manner.
Some idiot donkey might read that and decide that this project could also be the next “Pillar” in Cayman to make some money for government.
You want to make money from people driving fast or do you want to prevent people from causing accidents by speeding?
Simple solution. Find all those old police cars that have bad AC, the same ones that the officers cannot be seen in because they are outdated. Place them in the different areas that you want to reduce speed. And every so often one officer can drive around the whole island and just keep moving the direction of the vehicle to make it seem they are alive. We do not even need a police officer to drive around to move the cars around a bit. We can sub that out. That will be the work of ten officers that can be released for duty.
And can we please leavethe Lodge boys out of every single thing that goes on in Cayman. Let them lodge in peace.
Try to get a job or work contract or get any help in Jamaica or Cayman Jamaican community if you are not part of the Seventh Day Adventist, and tell me who is more about lodging each other and abusing. But you do not hear about that in the local press. All of us are Builders or Fixers.