Police present first statutorily required red-light camera annual report showing doubled traffic volume and lower crashes

Boynton Beach Police Chief Joe DiGiulio presented the city’s first statutorily required annual red-light camera report (fiscal year 2023–24) on Jan. 21, following passage of House Bill 1363. The report covers 15 camera locations, notice-of-violation counts, traffic volumes and crash data.

Chief DiGiulio said the city’s total traffic volume at monitored intersections rose from about 28 million vehicle passes in 2021 to about 58 million in 2023, even as total crashes at those locations fell in the same period. "While the notice of violations have increased at that location, the traffic volume has tripled," DiGiulio said, noting the data indicate greater overall traffic but rising voluntary compliance at signals in monitored intersections.

The annual report set the total revenue derived from the program at roughly $2.7 million for the most recent year; the police department uses camera funds for vendor costs, magistrate hearings, traffic-unit staffing, school crossing guards, signage, license-plate readers and other traffic-safety tools. DiGiulio said the equipment has also supported criminal investigations, citing several instances in 2023 where footage helped identify vehicles linked to armed robbery, shootings and a homicide.

The chief told commissioners that only about 30 percent of violations were issued to drivers identified as Boynton Beach motorists (with the caveat that data cannot cleanly distinguish city residents from unincorporated county motorists); repeat violations were uncommon — 9 percent received a second notice and 2.5 percent received a third.

Commissioners asked about future expansion; DiGiulio said the commission in 2022 authorized six additional cameras, which had not yet been activated, and that the contract runs through May 2026. He said the department would bring any renewal or expansion to the commission in a public meeting as required by the new law.