Mayor of Chicago: above the red light cameras

cacicgtp7

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Nothing really surprising here for any city official... next.



I-Team: Mayor's motorcade caught on tape | abc7chicago.com

May 5, 2014 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Red lights? Speed limits? They're apparently not a problem if you are driving the mayor of the city of Chicago.


Despite Rahm Emanuel's contention that red light and speed cameras are "all about safety," the ABC7 Eyewitness News I-Team learned those same cameras regularly catch the mayor's motorcade running red and speeding.

The city's website catalogs all red light and speed camera violations regardless of who you are.
I-Team ran the plates of the two city vehicles in which Emanuel is chauffeured around Chicago. Since 2012, the cameras have caught the mayor's motorcade speeding near schools and parks or running red lights nearly two dozen times. The unblinking eyes of Chicago's red light and speed cameras miss nothing. Last year alone, they ticketed more than 622,000 drivers, fining them more than $71 million.

"This is supposed to work as a deterrent," Emanuel said in Nov. 2011.

The cameras may deter drivers worried about steep fines but ABC7 Eyewitness News has found they're not slowing down Emanuel's security detail. The mayor rides around Chicago in a two-car convoy, and 20 times in less than two-and-a-half years city cameras have caught the vehicles running red or speeding through the very school and park areas the cameras were meant to protect.

In February, cameras caught both of the mayor's vehicles speeding near Gompers Park. They were going more than 10 miles per hour over the limit. The next month, a camera clocked one of the SUVs driving with its police lights on, going 18 miles an hour over the speed limit in a school zone. The mayor wasn't even in town that day. He was down in Texas at the South by Southwest Festival. Last April, a red light camera on Stony Island captured both of the mayor's vehicles running a red light. Was there some city emergency?

Not necessarily: That was around the same time Mayor Emanuel watched a high school baseball game in the area. Since 2012, the city's website reports the mayoral motorcade racked up 17 red light tickets and three speed warnings, in addition to a few parking tickets.

Mike Brockway has helped hundreds of people fight tickets via his website "theexpired meter.com." "That was part of the law: Slow people down to have a safer Chicago and he's not adhering to that - and I think that's not fair," Brockway said.

On three occasions the mayor's convoy had so many unpaid tickets, city computers flagged the vehicles for seizure. That's right: City records reveal the mayor's vehicles were eligible for "the Boot." ABC7's Ben Bradley: "They took your car, but they don't take the mayor's car?"

Owner of impounded vehicle: "The mayor's got clout, I don't."

Outside traffic ticket court a ticketed driver said, "I've actually gotten a ticket right at that very intersection." Some say the mayor's trail of tickets completely contradict his 2011 claims: "I have a responsibility to protect our kids." "It's hypocritical, completely hypocritical. It's all about revenue," said Brad Predergast, a ticketed driver. The city's website shows all of the tickets were "dismissed." No one paid a dime in fines.

If you racked up the same amount of violations: it would've cost you at least $1,700, more if you got booted. Monday night, Mayor Emanuel is responding to our report, instructing his bodyguards to stop speeding and running red lights.

Spokesperson Bill McCaffrey tells Eyewitness News, "the mayor believes in ensuring safety and that everyone ought to slow down and observe safety rules, including the police vehicles in which he travels." The mayor's office says from time to time it may be necessary for the "mayor's safety" to violate traffic laws but didn't address specific violations spotlighted in our story.


MOW DOWN THOSE KIDS! :jg:
 
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TonzKnock-G

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above-the-law-10.jpg
 

radioguy6

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Just another day in crook county. Free pass for Rahm and his boys. The driver(s) of the motorcades should be fined just like everyone else would be, it shouldn't matter who the fuck you are or who you work for. No level headed individual would ever muster the thought these cameras were deployed as an ATM for Rahm and his cronies. Speed and red light cameras are for "safety".
 

Dan00Hawk

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If you could find out the plate #s for a bunch of Chicago politicians and aldermen, then print up fake copies to tape over your own plates, I think it would be incredibly awesome to then blast through red light and speed cameras all over the city. Do this for about 20-40 cars over the course of a weekend, and see what happens next... :D
 

radioguy6

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ABC7 is all over Rahm and his boys for running reds :rofl:, video of him blowing red lights in the link.

But as always, remember, red light cameras and shortened yellow lights are for the safety of the people.


CHICAGO (WLS) --
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's motorcade was caught running red lights - again.

The city's website shows Rahm Emanuel's motorcade racked up five more red light violations since November, after the mayor said last May that "no one is above the law." On Thursday, as he answered questions about the citations, he defended red light cameras.

"First and foremost, red lights are there for public safety and traffic safety," Emanuel said.

While red lights cameras may serve as a deterrent to some drivers, they're apparently not to Emanuel's two-car motorcade. Months after an ABC7 I-Team investigation found that the mayor's security detail racked up 17 red light tickets in two-and-a-half years, the mayoral motorcade was caught again.

Rahm's motorcade was cited five times in the past three months, including a Nov. 20 incident where a man in a wheelchair waited as the two-vehicle convoy drives through the red light. On Jan. 10, a senior citizen ready to step in the cross, also waited as the mayor's cars breezed through.

"When there is a tail car, given there are some instances where they need to get through the light, because they can't get separated from first car, that may be what it is," Emanuel said.

It is the job of the Chicago Police Department to protect the mayor. A CPD spokesperson says part of that protection is a two-car team that is trained to stay together, and that won't change. But, according to Illinois state law, following the mayor's vehicle is not an approved reason for violating traffic laws. Months ago, the mayor agreed.

"No one is above the law. Obey the law. Period. Full stop," Emanuel said.

On Thursday, the mayor clarified what he meant when he said, "no one is above the law."

"I said I was going to pay it, that is what I meant when I say 'above the law'. I couldn't be more clear," Emanuel said.

The mayor ended his press conference before he could answer the question on why he doesn't ask his security detail to stop at red lights.

At a mayoral candidates' forum Thursday night, which Emanuel declined to attend, his opponents pounced.

"The footage shows his motorcade going through in a dangerous fashion through intersections. So he needs to stop," said William "Dock" Walls, candidate for mayor.

"He should take them down and pay for his, but he should pay for every citizen that got one. That's my comment," said Willie Wilson, candidate for mayor.

Red light camera opponents say the mayor is missing the point.

"It goes to his sincerity about the issue. Are you sincere about traffic safety?" said Mike Brockway, TheExpiredMeter.com.

The city's website tonight shows the mayor is up to date on his payments, but two of the new tickets were not paid off until Thursday afternoon, after he faced reporters.

Rahm Emanuel's motorcade caught running red lights - again | abc7chicago.com
 

ragingclue

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...because it's so hard to keep a two-car motorcade together, huh? Fucking rocket science, huh? Fuck that guy, Chicago deserves him. I find it hilarious how he shits on everybody and the city still can't muster anybody to beat him in an election. And this is why he overtly and unashamedly continues to take the liberties he does.

It is about safety, not about paying the tickets. He's such a slimy douchebag.
 
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