Photo enforcement program costing Aurora more than expected

AURORA, Colo. — A photo enforcement program that was expected to make travel safer in Aurora is costing the city more than anticipated, and now council members are talking about getting rid of it. 

The program uses vehicles to photograph and ticket speeding drivers.

The City of Aurora launched the 13-month pilot program on July 14. They were hoping it would stop drivers from speeding, save lives, and generate extra funds for other traffic projects.

City leaders shared new numbers at last week’s Public Safety, Courts and Civil Service committee meeting. The numbers show from June 2023 to February 2024, the city spent $610,803 to run the program, but only made $75,559 in revenue received from citations. That puts the city in the red by about $535,243.

Council members said the vendor is selling the company, giving the city an opportunity to get out of the contract and explore other options.

Council member Steve Sundberg, vice-chair of the Public Safety committee, said the program looked good on paper, which is why he was all for it at first. But now, he said, it’s clear the program is not worth the cost.

“Frustrating,” Sundberg said. “This should have been a program that would have worked. It works in Denver. I think our former police chief didn’t wrap his arms around it at first, which I think could have gotten it off to a more solid start. Our current interim chief and leadership did embrace it and tried their best to staff it. It’s disappointing. Very disappointing. We gave it the good ol’ college try. We’re going to look at other alternatives and we’re going to address this issue of speeding.”

As of now, the vehicles are still ticketing speeders on Aurora roadways. Councilmembers on the Public Safety committee plan to continue the discussion at next month’s meeting. 

SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS