Just Be Sure to Get My Good Side

Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper says it’s perfectly okay for police departments in Tennessee to use traffic cameras to issue tickets so long as the ticket comes from an actual police officer. (In other states, the tickets typically come from a private company paid to set up and monitor the cameras.)

Sounds about right to me.

I don’t like those cameras – and I don’t want them in Tennessee – but legally speaking, yeah. Get an actual cop to review each photo and make an individual determination each time if it looks like the law has been broken. If the driver disagrees, okay, they get their day in court, just like any other ticket.

I know it costs a lot more to make a police officer review each alleged violation individually, but so what? It’s still a lot cheaper and quicker than having a police officer sitting around on the scene waiting for violators.