By Ankur Singh and Brenda Bedolla

The Town of Cicero currently has an agreement with SafeSpeed to install several red-light cameras in Cicero. The red-light camera company has been a subject of the recent FBI investigation related to State Senator Martin Sandoval and has ties to Town of Cicero officials.

The original agreement was approved by the Board of Trustees in August 2018, but was recently amended this past summer.

After putting out a request in 2018, the Town of Cicero received proposals from three red-light camera companies and ultimately chose SafeSpeed, which was the cheapest.

In an emailed statement town Spokesperson Ray Hanania stated that Cicero has yet to install any red-light cameras and there is no firm timeline on when they will begin. Before installation can start SafeSpeed and the Town of Cicero must obtain necessary permits from the Illinois Department of Transportation and other government entities.

According to SafeSpeed’s proposal, which was obtained by Cicero Independiente, the town would pay approximately $500 a month per camera system. The Board of Trustees requested cameras be installed at the following five intersections throughout the town:

Roosevelt Road and Cicero Avenue
Cermak Road and Cicero Avenue
31st Street and Cicero Avenue
Ogden Avenue and 26th Street
33rd Place and Cicero Avenue

The proposal states that the cameras will automatically detect when a vehicle has ran a red-light. After the video is reviewed by the Cicero Police Department and the incident is deemed valid, a ticket will be mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner. The owner will then have the option to pay the ticket or contest it.

“We believe that motorists who violate basic traffic laws put the entire population in jeopardy,” Hanania stated. “Our goal is not to ‘sting’ drivers but to identify and fine those drivers who clearly violate the basic traffic safety requirements.”

But, it is unclear whether or not red-light cameras actually do increase traffic safety. Some studies in Chicago conclude that cameras do not necessarily decrease accidents and critics argue that they are a method for cities to increase revenue.

SafeSpeed has recently come to broad public attention after it was revealed that an FBI subpoena instructed federal officials raiding Senator Sandoval’s offices to collect any information and materials related to, “SafeSpeed, [and] any employee, officer, or representative of SafeSpeed.”

An article in the Chicago Tribune in 2017 reported that Senator Sandoval was personally involved in ensuring that SafeSpeed received approval to install red-light cameras in Oak Brook Terrace as he accepted thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the company.

According to Hanania no Cicero officials have been contacted or questioned by the FBI.

SafeSpeed is a politically connected red-light camera company that has over 30 contracts with a variety of municipalities in the Chicago-area and has long held ties to Town of Cicero officials.

In 2009, the Chicago Tribune also reported that Michael Del Gado, an attorney whose law-firm provides legal services to the Town of Cicero, City of Berwyn, and other municipalities was a member of the company. He acknowledged to the Tribune that he is a long-time friend of SafeSpeed owner Nikki Zollar and helped her file the paperwork in 2006 to start the company. His name was later withdrawn from the company the same day that the Berwyn City Council held a meeting to discuss hiring SafeSpeed.

In addition, when Omar Maani, one of the co-founders of SafeSpeed, was a college student he used to work part-time at a law firm run by Del Gado, as reported by the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest.

State records show that SafeSpeed’s associates have also donated a total of $38,250 dollars to the Cicero Voters Alliance, the political organization that campaigns for President Larry Dominick and his allies. The bulk of those donations came from Triad Consulting Services, a company run by Zollar, as well as Presidio Capital and the Maani Group, two companies run by Maani.

Since the FBI raids on Senator Sandoval’s Springfield and Cicero offices occurred, there has been renewed support building for a bill in the Illinois legislature for a statewide ban on red-light cameras.