Speed camera near DuSable Museum nets highest revenue for city at $6.4M

Photo caption: THIS SPEED CAMERA in Washington Park has ticketed more drivers and generated more revenue than any of the 162 speed cameras in the city since March 2021, an ABC7 Chicago investigation found. (Crusader file)

Two years after former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 6-10 mph threshold was passed, the speed camera near the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center in Washington Park continues to generate more tickets and revenue than any other speed camera in the city of Chicago.

The investigation also revealed another speed camera in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side has the second highest revenue in fines in Chicago.

According to calculations of a recent ABC7 Chicago investigation, the speed camera at 536 E. Morgan Drive in Washington Park, since March 2021, gave out 151,721 tickets generating $6,374,881 in fines for the city. That’s the highest revenue of the city’s 162 speed cameras in Chicago.

A breakdown of tickets from the Washington Park speed camera also revealed the device generated the highest number of tickets and revenue from drivers going between 6 to 10 miles per hour, a $35 fine. According to the ABC7 Chicago investigation, the Washington Park speed camera has given 135,131 tickets for a total of $4,720,031. About 16,590 tickets totaling $1,654,850 were given to drivers going over 11 mph, a $100 fine. That places the Washington Park speed camera as the fifth highest device that gave out tickets to drivers going 11 mph over the speed limit.

In 2022, the Washington Park speed camera placed first as the most profitable, after a similar ABC7 Chicago investigation.

Situated between the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center and the Washington Park Field House and outdoor pool, the speed camera is tucked behind trees. The camera tickets unsuspecting drivers going west and east bound on a street that has no traffic light or pedestrian crosswalk.

The Washington Park speed camera is located in Alderman Jeanette Taylor’s 20th Ward.

The ABC7 investigation also shows the city’s second highest revenue generating speed camera is in Alderman Anthony Beale’s 9th Ward. According to the data, since March 2021, the speed camera at 445 W. 127th St., in West Pullman, gave 119,005 tickets, generating $6,352,756 in fines.

That camera topped the list for ticketing drivers going over 11 mph per hour. According to the ABC7 investigation, since March 2021, the West Pullman speed camera gave 33,800 tickets totaling $3,374,950. For drivers going over 6 mph, the speed camera gave 85,205 tickets totaling $2,977,806.

In Alderman Monique Scott’s 24th Ward, a speed camera at 2900 W. Ogden gave 18,442 tickets for drivers going 11 mph, with those tickets totaling $1,841,950, the fourth highest in the city in that category.

In Alderman Peter Chico’s 10th Ward, a speed camera at 10318 S. Indianapolis on the East Side has given 21,041 tickets for drivers going 11 mph, generating $2,100,900 in fines, the third highest in that category.

Overall, in Chicago, the ABC7 investigation revealed all speed cameras gave a total of 5,783,898 tickets from March 1, 2021, to April 5, 2023. Those tickets generated $185,182,725 in fines for the city. About 60 percent or 3,481,349 tickets were given to drivers going between 6 to 10 mph. Those tickets have generated $121,700,000 for Chicago since the new thresholds were passed in March 2021 under Lightfoot. The rest of the 635,941 tickets issued for speeds over 11 mph brought in $63,500,750.

The threshold ordinance was passed after the city commissioned a report by the University of Illinois at Chicago, which found that automated speed enforcement reduced fatal crashes by 15 percent from 2015 to 2017. However, the UIC report also found that a disproportionate number of camera tickets issued to drivers who broke traffic laws came from cams in majority-Black and Latino communities and low-income neighborhoods.

Last year, Alderman Anthony Beale (9th) introduced an ordinance that would have repealed Lightfoot’s speed camera ordinance. But 10 Black aldermen sided with Lightfoot to help her defeat Beale’s ordinance, by a 26 to 18 vote. They include Aldermen Greg Mitchell (7th), Michelle Harris (8th), Stephanie Coleman (16th), David Moore (17th), Derrick Curtis (18th), Monique Scott (24th), Walter Burnett (27th), Jason Ervin (28th), Chris Taliaferro (29th) and Emma Mitts (37th).

Three Black aldermen did not vote. They include Aldermen Jeanette Taylor (20th) and Carrie Austin (34th), both of whom were absent. The roll call count showed Alderman Howard Brookins (21st) was at the City Council meeting but he did not vote.

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