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hidden, activations which occur while police officers are conducting traffic control and <br />activations which occur during inclement weather. If an incident clears the vendor it is then <br />placed into a queue and a Santa Ana Police Officer examines the incident. The officer either <br />accepts or rejects the incident based upon his /her judgment and application of the law. At this <br />juncture, the officers reject many incidents if, in their opinion, they would not have issued a <br />citation in the field. The officer often rejects incidents for reasons such as clarity of the picture, <br />license plate is unclear, gender mismatch, invalid offense, safe turn on red, funeral procession, <br />police controlled intersection, on or passed the limit line, unclear scene image, red -light not <br />visible, sun glare or the driver is unidentifiable. <br />In FY 2011 -12, 22,504 citations were filed with the courts and the department received <br />$1,636,212 in court fines. In FY 2012 -13, 30,099 citations were filed and the department <br />received $2,541,745 in fines. <br />The total cost for a red light violation is $490. State legislation sets a mandatory fee for a red <br />light violation (CVC 21453a) at $100 but additional pre - established "penalty and assessment" <br />fees add an additional $390. The City of Santa Ana receives $153.71 for each violation, the <br />County of Orange gets $101.69 and $234.60 goes to the State of California. These fees are <br />not negotiable and cannot be adjusted. <br />Operational Considerations <br />Santa Ana experiences a significant increase in commuter traffic during the normal business <br />week. With limited police resources, the system serves as a force multiplier to deal with <br />serious traffic violations that present a danger to the public. Elimination of the Red Light <br />Camera Program makes enforcement of red light violations more challenging and could <br />potentially put the commuting public at greater risk. <br />Legislative / Legal Considerations <br />The most recent law to impact existing Automated Traffic Enforcement Systems was SB 1303, <br />which was enacted on September 28, 2012. SB 1303 has two primary impacts: it addresses <br />the admissibility of red -light camera- generated evidence and it adds certain requirements <br />regarding the adoption of notices of non - liability, signage, and reporting on the effectiveness of <br />Automated Traffic Enforcement Systems. <br />The impact on the admissibility of photo enforcement evidence was addressed in two parts of <br />SB 1303. First, there is now a presumption of authenticity applied to photo enforcement <br />evidence. This changes the existing Evidence Code Section 1552 and 1553 to create a <br />presumption of authenticity for printed representation of computer information and a <br />presumption of authenticity for "a printed representation of images stored on a video or digital <br />medium." Secondly, SB 1303 clarifies that photo enforcement evidence is not hearsay. SB <br />1303 amends Vehicle Code Section 21455.5 to state — "the printed representation of <br />computer - generated information, video, or photographic images stored by an automated traffic <br />enforcement system does not constitute an out -of- custody hearsay statement by a declarant. <br />This amendment should eliminate hearsay challenges. <br />