Installation of speed enforcement devices in Albuquerque will continue despite the theft of a device along Lead Avenue and Cornell Drive, Albuquerque police said.
The city’s Automated Speed Enforcement program was scheduled to be at full strength with 10 devices in place, with locations identified “using speed and injury data, as well as feedback from the community,” a news release. The three devices added in the Lead/Coal Avenue corridor and on Unser Boulevard had brought the system to six total cameras as of early June.
“Automated speed enforcement units are mobile and fixed radar devices equipped with cameras to monitor excessive speed in a particular area,” the City of Albuquerque’s website said.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller on April 13 announced that the Automated Speed Enforcement devices would soon take effect. The systems were on track to issue warnings starting April 25 and “on May 25, speeders will receive $100 fines,” a news release said.
Neighbors told KRQE News “it was only a matter of time” before the device installed at Lead was stolen. On June 27, the device was ripped off its base, KRQE reported.
“I didn’t think they were going to last," resident Stephen Deaver told KRQE. "To begin with, they are just giant targets. Yeah, absolutely; people are always flying, if not going the wrong way down the one-way.”
To catch some of Albuquerque's speeders, the cameras took effect in April with warnings.
“I don’t know how well thought out it was when they put them in place because they didn’t seem to be very protected,” Jill Medina, a neighbor, told KRQE. “Anybody walking by could have sprayed them with spray paint or they could have been damaged very easily.”
Albuquerque police took down the device at Coal Avenue and Cornell Drive to prevent anything from happening to it, but neighbors are frustrated because they believe the device was effective, KRQE reported.
“As somebody who lives in the neighborhood and drives around in the area, yes, people were definitely slowing down and being more aware of the fact that the cameras were there and the need to control speed," Medina told KRQE.
Gilbert Gallegos, Albuquerque spokesperson, told KRQE that the Automated Speed Enforcement program will remain.
“As long as there is still a problem we are going to keep those cameras up and running and cite people,” Gallegos told KRQE.
