Gunfire struck three speed cameras in Santa Fe, two on Zia Road and one on Rodeo Road, just hours after they went live Monday morning. Police say the damaged devices remain operational and continue to issue citations.
The newly activated cameras recorded about 500 violations by 8 a.m. Monday. The Zia Road camera accounted for 200 of those violations. Just hours later, gunshots damaged the camera, but it never stopped working.
“One of them was at Zia Road, which was also our highest violation location, where we recorded a violation of 67mph in a 35mph zone,” Santa Fe’s Interim Police Chief Ben Valdez said via KOAT Action News.
Valdez said the city reinstated the cameras after seeing a rise in dangerous driving following the pandemic. The initiative aims to curb risky driving habits and help everyone reach their destinations safely.
The city installed three cameras on Santa Fe’s east side and three on the south side.
“As for deployment locations, when we looked at was crash data, speeding complaints and where people have concerns of unsafe driving,” Valdez said.
Valdez emphasized that the city of Santa Fe, not a third party, owns any data collected by the cameras.
“As they know in our contract we have spelled out that the data is the property of the city of Santa Fe, and it’s not being shared with any third parties,” he said.
How the Speed Cameras Work
Valdez also clarified how the technology operates. He said confusion over the type of cameras in use may have contributed to the devices being targeted.
“First of all, these are not Flock Cameras. Secondly, what the device does is when it detects a speeding violation, it then triggers the recording device which captures the violation, then it stops recording. So they’re not recording street activity 24/7,” Valdez said.
“I think because of the concerns nationwide about Flock Cameras, that could be one driving reason. I know some people are not pleased with having these devices up because of privacy concerns,” he added.
Police are examining shell casings recovered at the scene to match the bullets to the firearm and identify the shooter.
“In addition, we’re looking at other things such as Ring cameras, surveillance and also information from the public. If someone is out there boasting that, hey, I just damaged these cameras, we intend to file charges and hold them accountable,” Valdez said.
“If you’re speeding, it’s a civil penalty for your first time is 50 bucks. Now, if you use a firearm and destroy a camera, that’s a felony offense and it’s going to be more than 50 bucks in penalties are much steeper than the initial violation,” he said.
