GOVERNMENT: STOPLIGHT CAMERAS ON AGENDA TONIGHT

City officials tonight again will consider placing video cameras at one Cape Girardeau intersection a move designed to discourage red light runners and thwart potential accidents in the city.

This is the fourth time an ordinance permitting the city to install the video system has appeared on the City Council agenda.

The videotaping system, known as automated red light technology, is a set of video cameras designed to tape only drivers who are in the process of running red lights.

The system allows police to ticket the vehicle owners without having to be present at the intersection.

The system tapes a 5-second clip only when it senses that a driver is going too fast or has not slowed in time to stop for a red light.

Police can review the clips to determine if there were extenuating circumstances causing a driver to run a red light. Vehicle owners who have been issued a citation also can review the clip and protest the citation.

An ordinance allowing the city to purchase and install the cameras first appeared before the council at its Oct. 9 meeting. That night, the council decided to delay action on the matter until its Oct. 23 meeting after some council members questioned the cost, operation, maintenance and installation of the system.

During the council's Oct. 23 meeting, members again delayed their decision, opting to wait for a representative of the company that makes the camera system to come to the Nov. 6 meeting.

But officials still could not come to an agreement about the benefits or drawbacks of the system on Nov. 6 and tabled the matter for tonight's meeting.