SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Those speed cameras that have gone up on some Hampton Roads cities are the target of a new lawsuit.
A local lawyer filed the lawsuit in court Friday against both Chesapeake and Suffolk, challenging the validity of the tickets that come from them.
Attorney Tim Anderson laid out what he says Suffolk and Chesapeake and Suffolk are doing wrong.
First, he said the cities aren’t issuing a standard Virginia summons when giving tickets from these cameras. Second, and what he said is most appalling, is they’re going through third-party, out-of-state companies to make people pay their fines. He said the cities are blatantly breaking Virginia laws when it comes to photo speed cameras.
“What we’re saying is, one, they’re not issuing a summons and that’s required,” Anderson said, “[and] two, they’re pretending to be the municipality, the law enforcement … and three, the cities [are] benefiting out of this.”
Documents Anderson provided show what his clients received and look very different from normal Virginia summonses look like. He said this is being done just so cities can pocket more money.
“We saw from the [Virginia] State Police that Chesapeake issued 70,656 citations, and they generated more than $5.5 million last year on this,” Anderson said. “Suffolk issued about 132,000 citations and they’ve generated almost $9 million.
Ann Kretzer lives right by a photo speed camera in front of a school in Chesapeake. She said the cameras are beneficial in moderating traffic speeds.
“If they’re guilty, then they need a ticket,” Kretzer said. “They do slow traffic down.”
Anderson explained what he wanted to accomplish from the lawsuit. And he said if they win, they’ll expand the lawsuits to other cities in Hampton Roads and across Virginia. Suffolk officials declined to comment, saying they don’t comment on pending litigation, while Chesapeake has yet to respond.
“We’re asking the courts to enter an injunction against both cities from continuing to write tickets in the way they’re doing,” Anderson said, “and to refund all of the money to everybody who’s gotten a ticket.”