PENINSULA, Ohio — A News 5 investigation raises serious questions about the tactics used to nab drivers speeding through the Village of Peninsula.
The speed limit drops from 40 to 35 miles per hour in the area near 1985 Main Street in the Village of Peninsula, where 77% of the village's photo enforcement citations were issued between the end of April, when the program started, and December 1, according to records provided by the village.
Cuyahoga Falls resident Doug Knapp received two speeding citations from that location - and a third from another location - last year.
"I think it is a cash grab," Knapp said. "I think their city (Peninsula) is having problems and now we're all paying for it. Literally."
The citation's fines range from $150 to $255, depending on the driver's speed.
'Click, click, click and collect money'
News 5 also found Peninsula doesn't ticket drivers unless they are 10 mph over the limit. However, 86.2% of the 9,997 citations issued between April and December 1 were sent to drivers exceeding the speed limit between 11 miles and 15 miles per hour, per data provided by the Village of Peninsula.
"That's very telling," said Ayesha Bell Hardaway, Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
"How much of this is connected to actual public safety as opposed to just revenue generation?" she asked. "Not just cameras that are able to click, click, click, and collect money."
Village records obtained by News 5 show the village collected more than $1.1 million from photo enforcement citations between the program's start and Dec. 15.
"Unfortunately, I think our municipal governments have been too easily prone to fall into the space of just taking money for traffic offenses as a part of generating revenue as opposed to actually making sure that any sort of fines or fees are connected to the administration of public safety," said Bell Hardaway.
"When our governments are so focused on doing what’s expedient and financially prudent... as opposed to what folks understand and recognize to be necessary ... it only diminishes the esteem of government," she said.
Mayor's response
For weeks, News 5 repeatedly reached out to Peninsula Mayor Daniel Schneider, Jr. through texts, phone calls, and e-mails.
When the mayor failed to respond to our messages, News 5 went to the village's council meeting to question him about the photo enforcement program.
News 5 Investigator Sarah Buduson asked Schneider how he would respond to drivers' claims the program is a "cash grab."
The mayor replied, "I told you I have no comment. "
"I hired someone to take care of this for me," he said.
A familiar face
So who did the mayor hire?
Targeting and Solution Limited has a contract to manage the village's photo enforcement program.
The company is owned by Newburgh Heights Mayor Trevor Elkins, whose village is known for its speed camera program.
Per its website, the company provides "photo enforcement program management for Ohio's municipalities, townships, and districts."
"I believe I can provide a level of expertise to other municipalities as they add programs," Elkins said during an interview with News 5.
Safety first
Elkins said speed cameras keep people safer.
"The goal of the program, ideally, is to get people to slow down," Elkins said.
Elkins said photo enforcement programs are effective at reducing speed and motor vehicle crashes. As evidence, he referred us to three reports listed on the Village of Peninsula Photo Enforcement Information Page.
READ THE REPORTS: Village of Peninsula Photo Enforcement Information Page
Elkins also said, "We found this is, in fact, the most effective, based on the sheer number of citations being issued. That is an illustration of exactly how bad the problem is and evidence of that is the number of citations."
So how dangerous is Peninsula?
Ohio State Highway Patrol data shows the Village of Peninsula averaged 18 crashes per year between 2018 -2022.
There were 17 in 2023, according to state records.
Between 2018 and 2023, 82 of the 107 motor vehicle crashes in the Village of Peninsula involved only property damage.
None were fatal.
"We’re hoping to keep it that way," Elkins said. "Ideally, if we can make that zero, that’s our goal."
Resident Edward Andros said he has noticed fewer drivers speeding through Peninsula since the start of the photo enforcement program last spring.
"I don’t take data," he said. "But I think people are driving more safely through my village."
Andros said he lives along Route 303. He said speeders have been a problem for him and his neighbors for more than two decades.
"I don’t know when somebody’s going to be coming down the road at 25 miles per hour or 60," he said. "I put up with it for 25 years of people abusing their transit through my village."
"If it produces revenue in addition to making my neighbors and I safer, I applaud it," he said. "That’s a bonus."
Fees & fines
According to the company's contract with the Village of Peninsula, Targeting and Solution Limited receives "40 percent of amounts collected from ticket payments," which added up to more than $400,000, according to data provided by the Village of Peninsula.
"What it says is a lot of people are breaking the law," Elkins said.
It also initially cost drivers $100 to appeal a photo enforcement citation from the Village of Peninsula in Stow Municipal Court.
READ MORE: Judge suspends $100 fee to fight Peninsula speed camera citations
However, Stow Municipal Court Judge Kim Hoover suspended his order to charge the fee in December after the Village of Peninsula received a letter from the Institute for Justice, a national nonprofit law firm, stating the fee was unconstitutional. It is now free to appeal.
In a text, Elkins wrote Peninsula's cameras are "currently not running at the request of the court as they work through the final details of their new policy for appeals. The village is honoring the request."
Doug's dilemma
Knapp appealed all three of his citations. He lost.
He has not paid his fines.
He has started avoiding the Village of Peninsula.
"A good old-fashioned boycott. That's all I've got," he said. "They've lost me."
Knapp said he once delighted in driving through the village on his way to and from work.
"It's a nice two-lane road. It's good scenery, nice hills, good curves," he said.
Now, he takes a different route.
"I had to change because, like, I can't spend money and take this risk," he said.
Editor's Note: In the original version of this story we showed video of the wrong stretch of Route 303, inaccurately showing where police speed cameras ticketed Doug Knapp. The video has been corrected.
