Bernalillo County launches automated speed enforcement program with 10 cameras

Speeders beware. Bernalillo County is launching its new automated speed enforcement system on Monday.

The county has installed 10 speed cameras, all in the area of Coors, and will start with a 30-day warning period. During the initial warning period, drivers will get notices without fines or due dates. Speeders will begin receiving citations on Sept. 25.

The first 10 cameras are installed along Paradise, Golf Course, Isleta, Bridge and Arenal. The county is working with the New Mexico Department of Transportation to install six more along Alameda, Coors, Dennis Chavez and Tramway.

Like the city of Albuquerque’s automated speeding enforcement program, the citation process will be triggered by people driving 10 mph over the posted speed limit. Although, officers could still issue citations for people driving just a few miles over the speed limit, especially if they are also driving recklessly, said Deputy County Manager for Public Works Elias Archuleta. The intent is to change driver behavior, said Director of Operations and Maintenance Antonio Jaramillo.

The citations will be $100, or drivers can opt for a $25 citation and work four hours of community service.

“This isn’t meant to be a money generator,” said Interim County Manager Shirley Ragin. “It’s for safety and is something that our streets really need.”

The city of Albuquerque has 20 speed cameras, and drivers caught speeding are similarly issued a $100 fine or can do four hours of community service instead. Albuquerque previously had an automated speed enforcement program and red light cameras that voters rejected in 2011. But the city council voted to restart automated speed enforcement in 2021. According to the city website, 213,293 citations were from 2022 until May 2024 through the program.

A dangerous road

The camera locations were chosen in areas where the county has already tried to mitigate speeding by installing traffic calming measures such as speed humps and reconfiguring lanes. The chosen areas also have crash, fatality or major injury rates one and a half times or two and a half times higher than the average for unincorporated parts of the county, Archuleta said.

Coors is one of the worst areas in the Albuquerque metro for pedestrian fatalities, Ragin said. One of the most recent pedestrian deaths in the area of the new speed cameras was at Coors and Arenal in 2021.

There was a pedestrian death on Coors last week when an off-duty Albuquerque police officer was killed at Coors and Chapulin SW, but there are no speed cameras as far south on Coors as the location of that death, said county spokeswoman Kristen Ferguson. Another pedestrian was killed two weeks ago at Coors and Irving.

Lt. Tyler Jenkins of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office called the speed cameras a force multiplier for the department.

A county ordinance passed in 2023 requires a real person to review the footage before issuing a citation, said Ragin. The county has hired two recently retired law enforcement officers who are certified with the state on a part-time basis through a temp agency to review the footage of speeders and issue the citations, said Archuleta, so no officers will be taken out of the field to work on the citations.

Those officers could be moved to full time or more officers could be hired if needed, said Jaramillo.

People issued citations are entitled to an appeal process if they want to challenge the fine. With an appeal, the driver or vehicle owner would go before a hearing officer and could further appeal to the District Court.

What is the money used for?

The speeding camera vendor, Altumint Inc., installed the cameras and will run the hardware and software at no cost to the county, according to Archuleta and Jaramillo. Instead, the vendor receives $25 from every citation issued. For $100 citations, some of the money will also go to the state, per state law, and the remainder will go into the Public Works Department budget to pay for administering the program or safety enhancements.

The vendor will be responsible for replacing any equipment that is damaged or vandalized.

Bernalillo County is the first program using Altumint that offers community service in lieu of a more expensive fine, Jaramillo said.

Cathy Cook is a news reporter for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com