Middletown police cite big drop in extreme speeding after Route 66 speed camera; vendor to fix citation lookup error

Police Chief Eric Kassam said Middletown's early data from its newly activated speed cameras show a sharp drop in extreme speeding at the Route 66 site, and he told the Human Relations Commission that the company handling citation lookups will correct a software error flagged by a resident.

Kassam, the city's chief of police, told commissioners at the meeting that the Route 66 camera sees roughly 180,000 vehicles every seven days. "Within the activation of the cameras . . . in the first month, the speeds over 20 miles over the posted speed limit dropped by 94%," Kassam said. He also said media calculations showed about a 70% reduction in speed at the camera since the program began.

Why it matters: Kassam said the cameras are part of a broader Vision Zero and highway-safety effort and that the ordinance and reporting requirements were developed under city legal guidance and state law. He said camera revenue is managed by the city finance department and is intended for roadway safety projects such as paving, line striping and ADA-related mobility improvements, not police operating budgets.

Kassam described the program's citation procedures: owners receive a mailed notice with a photo and can request an initial online hearing within 30 days; in-person hearings are held twice a month at the police department and a superior court appeal remains available. "The due process in this program is extensive and many opportunities to have your say," Kassam said.

A resident, identified in the meeting as Dr. Dawn Brooks, described an incident in which she entered a citation number and saw a license plate from another state that matched her plate number. Kassam said the city contacted its vendor, Speed Enforcer, whose backend contractor Dacratech is investigating the issue. "They know that it's an issue and they are going to . . . fix it as soon as possible," Kassam said.

Commissioners asked whether the public-facing lookup could display the state of registration or otherwise distinguish out-of-state plates so residents checking citations do not mistake an unrelated out-of-state record for their own. Kassam said the system can produce state-based filters and that he would ask the vendor to add the state of registration to the citation lookup display.

The chief also described enforcement results and operational effects: initial studies showed a high percentage of violations when cameras first activated, but violations and hazardous speeds have fallen substantially. He said the program has freed officers for community outreach and other public safety duties. "This allows our police officers out of the cars and into the public, visiting stores and walking around," Kassam said.

Next steps: Kassam said the city will commission the required 18-month study the state requires, continue vendor follow-up on the plate-matching anomaly, and review engineering measures (rumble strips, striping) and signage options with state permitting if necessary. The commission asked the city to follow up with more detailed numbers and the vendor's timeline for the software correction.

Source: presentation and Q&A at the Middletown Human Relations Commission meeting. The article attributes quotes to those who spoke at the meeting.