BEACHWOOD, Ohio — The Beachwood City Council will be considering traffic cameras in the city. While some residents are in favor, others don’t want to see them installed.
Kate Williams has lived in her neighborhood for 30 years. She describes her street as a common cut-through, where people drive by frequently.
"They speed right through here. They don't live here, but it's a good way to cut through,” said Williams.
Speeding is something she doesn’t like, and she thinks speed cameras could help.
"I know you really can't stop that, perhaps, but at least draw attention to it,” said Williams.
That’s not how Mike Burkons feels.
“I totally think they're not fair,” Burkons said. "Your insurance doesn't get notified, you don't lose points. The only thing they can do if you don't pay is send you to collections.”
He’s completely against them.
"I think it's a money grab. They say it's about safety. If it was about safety, they would have sidewalks on Brighton. They would have better lighting on sites or things residents been asking for forever,” said Burkons.
The proposal for speed cameras came from Beachwood Police Chief Daniel Grispino.
"We did a speed study where I looked at the results, and some of the numbers were very alarming,” said Grispino.
The chief noted that they often hear from residents about traffic concerns and believe speed cameras could help.
"If you want to see the violations and the reckless driving go down, and you want to see the crashes be reduced, this is an excellent tool that the city is going to be able to deploy to make the community safer,” said Grispino.
If approved by city council, cameras would be deployed in seven locations across the city, with a 30-day warning period.
"There will be two handhelds on 271, a fixed location at Chagrin and Richmond and then every school zone,” said Grispino.
Revenue generated would go to a public safety fund. We asked the chief about concerns that cameras are not about safety, but about money.
"Well, that's a common misconception. If it was about money, we would put them all over the city. This is not about that. It's about utilizing it as a tool. If you're obeying the speed limit, there's no issues. You're not going to get a citation,” said Grispino.
The proposal was heard in two public committee meetings before being put on the city council agenda.
While residents remain divided, Beachwood City Council will decide whether to pass or reject the resolution. We reached out to council for comment, but they declined to comment ahead of the meeting.
Nadeen Abusada is a Cuyahoga County and immigration reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Instagram NadeenAbusada or email her at Nadeen.Abusada@wews.com.
