Camera Enforcement at Red Lights

Re “Traffic Cameras Welcomed,” Oct. 15.

It is truly unfortunate that driving on L.A.’s streets has come to this. I do agree with the necessity for the cameras, as I’ve believed for years that red-light runners are responsible for a higher fatalities / accident ratio than speeding freeway scofflaws. Big Brother cameras at intersections wouldn’t be called for if it weren’t for the small brains behind the steering wheels of 4,000-pound projectiles.

I also believe that we need to be just as vigilant when it comes to the privatization of law enforcement. . . . One thing that I’ve been curious about since I found out about Lockheed Martin’s role in law enforcement is just who competes against them for these lucrative contracts. These multimillion dollar contracts are awarded to a company that gets one-third of the fines collected. I find it hard to believe that there’s nobody out there who could do it for one-fourth or possibly even less.

I’d like to know who bid against Lockheed Martin for this one and whether there are any major stockholders in the company on the city and county payroll in decision-making positions.

We should be just as vigilant toward both types of dangers, speed and greed.

BRIAN WATSON

West Hills