As residents and drivers of Cerritos, we are petitioning the City Council to reinstall red-light cameras at our busiest intersections, beginning with the intersection of South Street and Gridley Road. Due to its location next to the 605 Freeway and the Cerritos Mall, this area experiences heavy traffic, and therefore, lots of traffic violations. Our goal is to create a safer environment where pedestrians can cross our streets without fearing for their lives. 

While Cerritos voted to remove cameras in the past (due to financial concerns), California’s recently passed SB 720 (October 2025) has established a system that is fairer and focused on safety. Under these new regulations, fines are capped at $100, and the law prohibits the "short-yellow" traps that were previously common. This ensures the program serves as a safety measure rather than a predatory money generator. Most importantly, the law also safeguards our community's privacy by preventing the storage or use of facial recognition data.

Although you may have seen Cerrito’s Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras, they’re actually only used to identify stolen vehicles or locate suspects; they are not designed to deter traffic violations or speeding. 

According to the US Census Bureau (survey done in 2025), approximately 46% of our population consists of residents under the age of 18 or over 65. We believe it is our responsibility to protect these vulnerable groups by better regulating our roads. Furthermore, the new law mandates that any revenue generated by these cameras must remain within Cerritos to fund essential local safety improvements (such as enhancing our own crosswalks and street lights), creating an even safer environment for them.

Research shows that these cameras actually make the roads safer. According to research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), camera enforcement in Arlington, Virginia, led to a 48% decrease in violations occurring a full second after a light turned red. A similar IIHS study in Oxnard, California, found that the implementation of cameras resulted in a 29% drop in injury-related crashes and a 68% reduction in injuries from T-bone collisions, the most dangerous type of accident associated with running a red light.

We urge the council to act now to protect the lives of our residents before another tragedy occurs at one of our major intersections. Please sign this petition to help us reach our goal of 1,000 signatures and make the streets of Cerritos safe again.