The Dark Money Behind Orange Park’s Red Light Cameras

Funneled to Local Politicians in Form of Donations

David Coughlin has been a crusader against Orange Park’s red light cameras ever since he got a ticket himself.

By THE CN&V TEAM

If you’ve ever driven through Orange Park down Park Avenue—along with the 62,000 other cars that do so daily—you may have noticed a “Photo Enforced” sign on Park’s intersection at Loring and Kingsley avenues. There’s another sign at the intersection at Kingsley and DeBarry avenues.

And chances are, you may have been one of the thousands every year greeted with a $158 ticket for running a red light at those three intersections. Multiple council members on the Orange Park Town Council have even admitted to being ticketed (once, twice, sometimes three times).

Hey, mistakes happen.

The red-light cameras were erected in 2013 with the intent to foster safety at Orange Park’s three most dangerous intersections, according to Jim Renninger, the mayor of Orange Park at the time and now chairman of the Clay County Board of County Commissioners.

“The cameras are helping to make our communities safer than we ever thought possible,” Renninger wrote to the Florida Times-Union in 2013 defending the new red-light cameras.

After being operational for over a decade, has Orange Park’s red light camera program been successful?

Rear-Enders

A recent study found that red light cameras are generally effective in reducing red light violations and are likely to be effective in reducing some types of traffic crashes. However, they also appear linked to an increase in rear-end crashes. This is attributed to drivers being more inclined to slam the brakes as opposed to risking a ticket. Instead of recommending red-light camera installations, the Federal Highway Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Association have recommended lengthening the duration of yellow lights, among other alternative strategies.

Specifically in Orange Park, there were 35 total crashes at the three intersections during the year before the red light cameras were activated, according to the most recent data reported by Orange Park and published by the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. From July 2022 to June 2023 (the most recent data set available), the town reported there were 40 total crashes.

The year before the cameras went up, there were three total crashes caused by running red lights. From 2022 to 2023, there were three again. There has never been a reported fatality at any of the three intersections, before or after the cameras.

Despite Clay County’s rapidly growing population year after year, traffic has remained relatively consistent along Park Avenue, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

Based on these figures specific to Orange Park, the efficacy data appears to be inconclusive. What has changed—and drastically—have been the number of tickets issued.

‘All About the Money’

Municipalities that enact red-light cameras keep $75 from every red light camera ticket that’s paid. Known as a “Notice of Violation” these are the tickets alleged red light runners see in their mailbox first. If these tickets go unanswered or unpaid, a “Uniform Traffic Citation” is mailed.

For this article, we will be examining Notice of Violation tickets, which cost $158 to settle.

The first year the cameras were operational, 8,666 tickets were issued and 6,246 of those were paid. That’s a total gross revenue of $986,868, but because Orange Park keeps $75 per ticket, the take home for the town was over $468,450—not including any added administrative or additional fees.

Just last year, 17,477 tickets were issued and 11,492 of those were paid. Orange Park raked in over $861,900—almost doubling the revenue from the camera’s inauguration.

In 2023, Action News Jax reported: “Orange Park’s leaders say the red-light cameras are more about the green.” Indeed, Alan Watt, the vice-mayor at the time, considered taking down the cameras, but that would have left a half-a-million-dollar hole in the budget. During one Town Council meeting, he sided with the cameras and explained why: “It’s all about the money.”

Have financial incentives overshadowed the shutter flash of the red-light camera and the safety it claims to enforce? David Coughlin, an Orange Park resident, sees no other explanation.

Coughlin has used colorful terminology to describe the “red-light camera regime,” his coined term to describe the widely perceived panopticon-esque¹ surveillance and greed. His insurgency against the “regime” began when he received a ticket shortly after the cameras went up.

“It’s institutionalized racketeering, that’s what this all is,” Coughlin told CN&V.

During the last Town Council meeting, Coughlin was supported by George Bush, a former Clay County commissioner who once considered red-light cameras as a way to foster safety across the county.

“But since that time, over the years, I have seen reports and statistics that that’s not been the case. It’s actually caused more accidents than it deferred,” Bush said, urging the Town Council to review the data before making a decision “regardless of the revenue.”

Verra Mobility

The Florida law that legalized and codified red-light camera operations is named after Mark Wandall, who was killed in 2003 when another motorist ran a red light and collided with his vehicle. The driver who caused the crash was distracted, talking to a child in the backseat, when the traffic violation occurred.

Since the Mark Wandall statute was passed, millions of dollars of campaign funds have flooded to candidates’ coffers and PACs on both sides of the political aisle. Most of the money comes from Verra Mobility, a corporation based in Arizona known formally as American Traffic Solutions.

Verra Mobility has donated over $1.3 million dollars to the Florida Republican Party and its affiliated PACs, according to a nonprofit organization that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying. The corporation also donated over $312,000 to the Florida Democratic Party and affiliated PACs.

Closer to home, Verra Mobility donated $1,000 to Rob Bradley, a former state senator who represented Clay County. And then $1,000 to his successor, his wife Jennifer Bradley when she ran for the Florida senate.

Verra Mobility donated $1,000 to Sam Garrison while he was still Orange Park’s town attorney and running for re-election to the Florida House of Representatives. (Garrison was voted to become Florida's House Speaker for 2026).

Even when Mark Wandall was first debated on the House Floor in Tallahassee, opponents were critical that red-light camera operations would be abused for financial reasons—the click of the shutter flash turning into the ding of a cash register.

Multiple efforts to overturn Mark Wandall have been shot down. Richard Corcoran, a state representative who would later be Florida's House Speaker from 2016–2018, was a vocal critic of the statute. He tried unsuccessfully to rescind Mark Wandall, but other lawmakers voted in opposition to wait and give red-light cameras a chance to reduce accidents in Florida (Kuncl, 2013). Corcoran, himself, received $500 from Verra Mobility the year Mark Wandall was signed into law.

Mark Wandall appears to be here to stay, but the law was recently amended to now require municipalities using red light cameras to publicly share traffic data, including the number of violations issued, contested, upheld, dismissed, paid and converted to uniform traffic citations, as well as information on alternative safety measures. Additionally, municipalities must now enter into contracts with red light camera companies, such as Verra Mobility, in a public meeting, ensuring greater transparency in the process.

Vote Next Week

The Town Council will vote on renewing its red-light camera contract with Verra Mobility on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

Besides Orange Park and Green Cove Springs, no other municipality in Northeast Florida uses red light cameras. Jacksonville first installed red light cameras in 2012, but they were removed five years later. After the city’s red-light camera contract expired at the end of 2017, Sheriff Mike Williams opted not to renew it.

He told the Times-Union that the data hadn’t proven the technology reduced crashes at the 26 intersections outfitted with them. Unlike the upcoming Town Council decision, Williams' choice was likely easier, as the red light revenue went to the city rather than directly to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

The Town Council will vote on the issue on Tuesday.

Orange Park’s red light revenue is now ten times more than Jacksonville’s when the city’s contract expired. Ultimately, the debate has grown over the past year toward the lead up to the vote.

Madison Hilt, a former Orange Park political candidate, openly opposed red light cameras, expressing skepticism about the statistics and arguing that the fines disproportionately affect the town's lowest-income residents. Hilt lost the election to Kenneth Vogel who was undecided but claimed he was open-minded whether or not to keep the cameras. Mayor Randy Anderson and Councilor Doug Benefield have previously supported red-light cameras.

Data supporting red-light cameras appears ambivalent at best, but for sure they have succeeded brilliantly in one aspect—keeping the town out of the financial red.

1. A circular prison with cells arranged around a central well, from which prisoners could at all times be observed.