TROTWOOD/RIVERSIDE -- The red light camera debate is getting hotter.
Some Ohio legislators are looking to ban them, leaving some local communities scrambling.
Riverside Mayor Bill Flaute is like any other mayor.
He's love to see more green in the city's coffers, but when it came to adding red light cameras, he hit the brakes.
"We need the money as bad as Trotwood and everyone else does but there's a cost that goes with that and we want to be fair," said Bill Flaute, Mayor for the City of Riverside.
He didn't think it was fair to hit drivers with an 85-dollar ticket, when 50-dollars goes to a company called "Redflex." They're the ones who supply and maintain the cameras.
"The city who has them who starts out with them they're not getting rich right off the bat, Redflex is," said Edward Schock, Deputy Mayor for the City of Riverside.
"I wouldn't call it a scam, it's just an easy way to collect money instead of doing it the old fashion way which is going to the voters," said Schock.
And voters just might have the chance to be heard.
"I think they're wrong," said Travis Cabrera, "I think they're stealing money from people who work hard for their money and for no reason."
"They're stupid to me," said Cheris Alsup, "I think they're a waste of time a waste of tax payers money, and they should get rid of them."
In the state's capitol, legislators are debating a bill that would ban red light cameras in the State of Ohio.
But law enforcement all over the state are pushing back, saying the cameras save lives.
"As of January 2013, crashes are down by 35% in the City of Trotwood," said Captain John Porter from Trotwood Police Department, to Ohio state legislators.
Captain Porter was one of three local police agencies that tesitifed against the ban.
"What that system does for us, it's what we call a force multiplyer," he said, "It mulitiplies the size of our police force by being able to have officers in the areas or virtual officers in the areas to monitor traffic that we can't put out there."
Without the camaeras, theyw ouldn't be able to catch as may red light runners or accidents on camera, and also generate 300-thousand-dollars a year.
That money goes to pay for two new cruisers, and two officer's salaries.
It's money Captain porter says the city can't function without.
"These losses would be significant for the community," he said, "The residents would start to feel a big drain on services, they would start to feel a big drain on the response time that we're able to provide to them at this point."
Of red light and speed cameras are banned in Ohio, the cities who use them would not be responsible for taking them down.
The company, Redflex, would pay out of its own pocket to remove them.
Some Ohio legislators are looking to ban them, leaving some local communities scrambling.
Riverside Mayor Bill Flaute is like any other mayor.
He's love to see more green in the city's coffers, but when it came to adding red light cameras, he hit the brakes.
"We need the money as bad as Trotwood and everyone else does but there's a cost that goes with that and we want to be fair," said Bill Flaute, Mayor for the City of Riverside.
He didn't think it was fair to hit drivers with an 85-dollar ticket, when 50-dollars goes to a company called "Redflex." They're the ones who supply and maintain the cameras.
"The city who has them who starts out with them they're not getting rich right off the bat, Redflex is," said Edward Schock, Deputy Mayor for the City of Riverside.
"I wouldn't call it a scam, it's just an easy way to collect money instead of doing it the old fashion way which is going to the voters," said Schock.
And voters just might have the chance to be heard.
"I think they're wrong," said Travis Cabrera, "I think they're stealing money from people who work hard for their money and for no reason."
"They're stupid to me," said Cheris Alsup, "I think they're a waste of time a waste of tax payers money, and they should get rid of them."
In the state's capitol, legislators are debating a bill that would ban red light cameras in the State of Ohio.
But law enforcement all over the state are pushing back, saying the cameras save lives.
"As of January 2013, crashes are down by 35% in the City of Trotwood," said Captain John Porter from Trotwood Police Department, to Ohio state legislators.
Captain Porter was one of three local police agencies that tesitifed against the ban.
"What that system does for us, it's what we call a force multiplyer," he said, "It mulitiplies the size of our police force by being able to have officers in the areas or virtual officers in the areas to monitor traffic that we can't put out there."
Without the camaeras, theyw ouldn't be able to catch as may red light runners or accidents on camera, and also generate 300-thousand-dollars a year.
That money goes to pay for two new cruisers, and two officer's salaries.
It's money Captain porter says the city can't function without.
"These losses would be significant for the community," he said, "The residents would start to feel a big drain on services, they would start to feel a big drain on the response time that we're able to provide to them at this point."
Of red light and speed cameras are banned in Ohio, the cities who use them would not be responsible for taking them down.
The company, Redflex, would pay out of its own pocket to remove them.
