Erie County Clerk Kearns Opposes Buffalo’s School Zone Cameras

Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns is another local official who has come out against the City of Buffalo School Zone Speed Camera program.

In a press release, County Clerk Kearns announced his opposition to the program and that it has proven to target low-to-moderate people in the city of Buffalo who can least afford the fines.

The data demonstrates that this ’Scam Cam Program’ unjustly targets low-income and minority neighborhoods. For the City of Buffalo to install cameras in school zones which disproportionately target high-poverty and minority neighborhoods and then threaten a collection tactic which has been expressly disavowed by the New York State legislature because it unjustly targets those demographics is nothing short of unconscionable.
-Michael P. Kearns, Erie County Clerk

The clerk went on to say that he has issued a letter to Mark J.F. Schroeder, the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, asking him to refuse to suspend the vehicle registrations for vehicles who have been ticketed by this program.

You can add Clerk Kearns name to the growing list of local officials and residents who are against this program in its current form. The Buffalo Common Council has asked the Mayor's office to pause the program, but so far the Mayor has refused.

Buffalo recently activated all of the school cameras across the city. Only time will tell if this continues.