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Council reviews proposal for SB 720'style automated red light camera pilot
Summary
Police recommended a pilot automated red-light camera program at two to three high-priority intersections under Senate Bill 720's civil-assessment model, which removes DMV points and provides the city with fine revenue; council asked about data ownership, privacy and vendor arrangements.
Santa Maria police presented a working-group recommendation April 7 to pilot an automated red-light camera program at two to three intersections to deter red-light running and reduce collisions.
Chief Chris Williams summarized prior local experience (a 2007'09 automated program that ended when the vendor left) and described Senate Bill 720 (passed in 2025) which creates a civil-assessment framework for automated enforcement. Under SB 720 the penalty is a civil citation (no DMV points) in a range the statute allows; one practical change is that municipalities retain the assessed fines rather than most funds flowing to the state.
The department recommended a limited pilot (6'8 approaches across two to three intersections) for 12 to 18 months to measure collision reduction and behavioral changes. Estimated vendor costs under a per-camera model were discussed (examples ranged by vendor), and presenters said many vendors offer a revenue-neutral model in which vendor fees are recouped from citations and the city can receive net revenues after basic thresholds are met.
Councilmembers pressed staff on privacy and data-sharing practices, whether vendors retained footage and for how long, and whether any vendor had data-sharing arrangements with federal agencies. Chief Williams said vendors studied to date do not have federal data-sharing agreements, the recorded evidence under the SB720 civil model would capture rear license plates and a violation image but not driver facial images, and the city would own the data. Staff noted options to require data-ownership, retention and transparency provisions in an RFP or contract.
Council gave direction to proceed with detailed procurement language that specifies data ownership and privacy safeguards and authorized staff to return with next steps for a pilot procurement and budget authorization.
