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white zip codes.3 Similarly, in the District of Columbia, where photo enforcement accounts for 96 percent of citations and 97 percent of fines, drivers in Black-segregated areas were over seventeen times more likely to receive a moving violation than drivers in white-segregated areas.4 This reflects a clear trend amongst automated enforcement mechanisms, they are routinely found to disproportionately target and ticket drivers in Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) neighborhoods. This is especially important given the City’s recent adoption of Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology through Flock. As the City considers additional automated enforcement tools, it is essential to evaluate the full impact of these technologies and ensure they align with the City’s values and commitments to protecting our most vulnerable communities. Importantly, there are proven, non-surveillance alternatives to improve traffic safety. Measures such as speed humps, raised crosswalks, bulb-outs, lane reductions, chicanes, and roundabouts can effectively slow traffic and improve safety without relying on data collection or enforcement technology. The City has invested in these types of infrastructure improvements and should continue to. We support improvements that make streets safer for all users, especially pedestrians and cyclists. It is critical that the City take a more deliberate and community centered approach before providing direction that would advance the establishment of a Speed Safety Pilot Program. We respectfully urge the Council to direct staff to: ● Conduct comprehensive research on how other cities have implemented AB 645, including timelines, costs, outcomes, and any challenges or unintended consequences. ● Engage in robust community outreach, particularly with immigrant communities and those most likely to be impacted, before pursuing legislative changes. ● Determine the fiscal impact of such a Program, its funding source, its feasibility and priority with Measure X beginning to sunset April 1, 2029. The Council needs to be wary of expenditures that may outlast revenue. We ask that the Council pause on advancing this resolution and instead prioritize research, transparency and community engagement. Best, Ivon Pena, Executive Director 4 William Farrell, “Predominately Black Neighborhoods in D.C. Bear the Brunt of Automated Traffic Enforcement,” D.C. Policy Center, June 28, 2018, https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/predominately-black-neighborhoods-in-d-c-bear-the-brunt-of-automate d-traffic-enforcement/ (accessed April 21,2023). 3 Emily Hopkins and Melissa Sanchez, “Chicago’s Race Neutral Traffic Cameras Ticket Black and Latino Drivers the Most,” ProPublica, January 11, 2022, https://www.propublica.org/article/chicagos-race-neutral-traffic-cameras-ticket-black-and-latino-drivers-the-most (accessed April 21, 2026).