OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Activists are pushing four Washington cities to join a growing national backlash against cameras used to issue traffic tickets.
Thousands of people have signed on to ballot proposals in Longview, Monroe, Redmond and Bellingham, hoping to replicate the anti-camera success seen elsewhere. Voters in more than a dozen cities nationwide have passed referendums banning the cameras while nine states now prohibit them. Officials in Los Angeles moved this week to end a camera program there.
Josh Sutinen has taken the lead on Longview’s initiative, even though the 17-year-old only got his driver’s license last month and isn’t old enough to vote for the proposal. He says the cameras are just another big-government attack on people’s rights.
