Latest news with #ChrisRicci
CBS News
a day ago
- Automotive
- CBS News
Red light cameras returning to Modesto after city council approves $3M program
Red light cameras are coming back to Modesto after the City Council voted this week to approve a five-year contract worth nearly $3.7 million to install and operate the devices at 10 intersections with the city's highest crash rates. The program, first proposed earlier in 2025 by the Modesto Police Department, aims to reduce collisions and improve safety in a city that has ranked among the top three worst in its size for total fatal and injury crashes over the past five years, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety. Modesto held the number one spot in three of those years. "Modesto has really suffered over the years with traffic accidents and fatalities," said Councilman Chris Ricci. "We don't want to be on a top ten list like that." The council's decision Tuesday night approves a purchasing agreement with Arizona-based Verra Mobility for automated red light photo enforcement technology. The contract totals $3,691,891 over five years and will be funded through the city's Traffic Safety Fund and citation revenue. While not all Modesto residents were sold on the plan, with some voicing concern over the fines, Ricci stressed that safety is the goal. "We're doing this to make Modesto safer, not to make money," Ricci said. The proposed locations for the red light cameras include: Briggsmore Avenue and Coffee Road, Sylvan Avenue and Coffee Road, Briggsmore Avenue and Carver Road, Pelandale Avenue and Carver Road, Oakdale Road and Briggsmore Avenue, McHenry Avenue and Standiford Avenue, Oakdale Road and Scenic Drive, Carpenter Road and Kansas Avenue, Ninth and G Streets, and Yosemite Boulevard and South Santa Rosa Avenue. Modesto last operated a red-light camera program from 2004 to 2014. The city discontinued it due to police staffing shortages, which made it difficult to review violations before citations were issued -- a requirement under California law. The new program includes a 30-day warning period before tickets are issued, and every violation will be reviewed by a Modesto police officer before being mailed.
CBS News
23-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Modesto mask ban at protest receives pushback after several arrests
A Modesto mask ban is sparking scrutiny after several protesters were arrested for wearing them during demonstrations. Now the American Civil Liberties Union is calling for the city to reconsider its ban on prohibited items during public assemblies. Video shows five protesters arrested for violating the city's anti-mask ordinance during an "ICE Out" protest in June. Charged with misdemeanors, the face-coverings have left the protesters facing possible fines and jail time. Angelica Salceda is a program director at the ACLU and said the arrests in Modesto over face-coverings show a troubling trend. "The ACLU believes this ordinance is unconstitutional and too broad and too vague," Salceda said. "The state already has a law on the books preventing people from masking their identities while engaging in criminal activities. Modesto and other cities could already use that law." At a civilian police review board meeting, Modesto Police Chief Brandon Gillespie defended the arrests, stating the city mask ordinance was passed back in 2019 when the council did not want to take a "wait and see" approach to potential violence at protests and that the ban on masks was meant to be a deterrent to escalation. Modesto councilmember Chris Ricci is calling on the city police review board to make recommendations on what to do with the policy. "It's a challenging subject," Ricci said. "Well, I think that the police department and the city have one perspective on keeping the overall city safe and that we limit the risks at these kind of events, but you also residents that are trying to protect their identities and they have their perspective too." City signage shows, besides masks, the city bans a long list of items from demonstrations, from lumber and piping to balloons and bottles. For now, it's the mask-wearing misdemeanor that has Modesto under this civil rights microscope.
