WILMINGTON — Recent emails indicate city staff are putting a plan in place should the City of Wilmington become the last North Carolina municipality to relinquish the use of red-light cameras.
READ MORE: City loses money on red light cameras, data shows minimal crash differences
The city has 13 cameras installed across Wilmington as part of its four-year, seven-month agreement with American Traffic Solutions (now Verra Mobility) owners of the SafeLight program, which captures photos of cars that run red lights. The city then issues civil $50 citations by-mail.
The contract is up in June 2025 and at least two council members are pushing not to renew it ahead of city council’s first budget session Nov. 7, where SafeLight will be discussed.
“Wilmington is the last city in the state of N.C. to utilize red light cameras,” councilmember Luke Waddell wrote in a text to Port City Daily Tuesday. “The taxpayers lose 200-300K every year due to this program and the statistics show it is not effective in reducing traffic.”
In 2023, Waddell revealed the city was losing money on the program, $165,000 in 2021 and nearly double that to cover equipment installation, $220,000, in 2022. New Hanover County does contribute to operating SafeLight, splitting 10% of the revenues with the city; 90% of the revenue goes to New Hanover County Schools per state statute.
According to previous Port City Daily reporting, the cameras have been correlated with a reduction in T-bone crashes from 2009 to 2019; however, rear-end crashes at these intersections have increased.
Last year, Waddell and council member David Joyner advocated to end Wilmington’s participation early due the programs’ losses coupled with a lack of clear benefit. Joyner told Port City Daily Tuesday he is still skeptical.
“Unless the data did make it clear that the cameras are directly related to increased traffic safety, I have some pretty serious concerns about us working with a third-party corporation to monitor citizens of Wilmington’s traffic,” Joyner said.
The third party, American Traffic Solutions, also got into trouble when North Carolina’s engineering board ruled that the company violated state law because the city’s red- light camera installations weren’t overseen by an engineer licensed in North Carolina.
Despite the data, the city’s traffic engineering department and the Wilmington Police Department have advocated to keep the program, as the cameras are also used to investigate traffic collisions.
An Oct. 14 email from Deputy City Manager Thom Moton lays out, framework to “compensate for the loss of law enforcement intelligence capabilities, should the SafeLight program be discontinued.”
This action plan includes conversations with the cameras’ vendor on avenues to transfer ownership of the 13 cameras to the city. If the cameras are repossessed, another city email indicates the cost of the first year, including installation, at $63,400 and every year thereafter at $35,600.
The city would need to financially plan to replace the equipment on a five-to-seven-year basis, starting in fiscal year 2026. However, the city would possibly have to identify funds in the current budget to cover initial purchases.
Whether the cameras are transferred or bought, the city would then ask WPD Chief Donny Williams to assess if the current locations meet the department’s needs. The action plan indicates New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office could also be offered use of the cameras in a cost-sharing agreement.
Port City Daily asked the WPD for its position on continuing the SafeLight program. Lt. Greg Willet responded the WPD has “nothing to do” with the program, referring to the issuance of citations. When asked to clarify if the WPD uses the SafeLight cameras for investigating crashes or intelligence capabilities, Willet said:
“It is something that both city traffic and engineering and WPD can use for investigating crashes. Often insurance companies file [public records requests]’s for any footage and traffic and engineering can provide footage of the wreck to help with the insurance claim, WPD can provide footage too. I wouldn’t say those cameras are used for intelligence purposes though. In order to get footage from those cameras, we contact the company itself.”
According to Moton’s email, City Manager Tony Caudle advised the program could continue if there were no costs to the city.
“That is, if the county or state legislature acted to relieve the financial burden to the city for continuing the SLP,” Moton wrote.
Joyner, an assistant district attorney, said he struggles to recall a time he used SafeLight cameras in misdemeanor traffic court, yet he would entertain the city purchasing cameras to replace the SafeLight equipment if the WPD asked. He said he’s comfortable with the price points of the cameras (relayed by PCD, as staff had not shared the numbers with council yet).
“I think that my voting record and my conversations with the Wilmington Police Department show that when the Wilmington Police Department has made it clear to us that there’s a specific need for police equipment or for a funding request, I’ve been prepared to meet that need,” Joyner said.
Though, the fate of SafeLight is not yet clear, as one council member told PCD he will continue to support it.
“I am in favor of keeping it because of the safety aspects of the program as it relates to solving crime,” councilmember Kevin Spears wrote in a text to PCD. “Other council members seem to be looking for any reason to target certain things, but without any real ideal replacement.”
Spears would not identify the council members he was referring to and also said he was not in favor of replacing the program.
“The cost of replicating that program goes beyond just putting cameras in place,” he said.
Council member Charlie Rivenbark told Port City Daily the program should be discontinued per the contract’s stipulations if the system “is a drain on our other budgetary responsibilities, which I don’t think that it is.”
He continued to say the program is needed now more than ever with the increase in local traffic and the estimated 50,000 cars coming in from surrounding counties every day.
If the program is eliminated, Wilmington would be the last in North Carolina to close the doors on the long-controversial use of enforcement cameras.
Nearly two dozen states ban the use of red-light cameras due to concerns over due process and government overreach, as the program targets license plates and not drivers. North Carolina began allowing them in 2001, but only for certain cities, all but Wilmington having put them out to pasture in recent years.
In late 2022, the City of Greenville shut down its program after it was found unconstitutional. Facing similar legal challenges, the City of Fayetteville followed when its vendor declined to renew the contract. Earlier this year, the City of Raleigh began removing its 25 cameras after city staff recommended discontinuance amid eroding support and changing regulations.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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