SummaryWith the significant increase in traffic surveillance camera systems, the debate over their safety, effectiveness, and constitutionality has intensified. The purpose of this research is to present arguments on each side of the issue and then compare statistics on the subject to determine whether these systems are more beneficial or detrimental to public safety and whether public interest or financial gain is the priority. essential element in the implementation of camera systems. Over the past decade, American citizens have witnessed an increasingly common sight: the onslaught of electronic surveillance devices placed at traffic lights and intersections for the sole purpose of recording driver behavior to issue citations; all in the name of safety (Federal Highway Administration Safety, nd). The proliferation of these traffic safety cameras, which have spread in unprecedented numbers to increasingly smaller cities ("Smile, You're on Camera", 2009), is undoubtedly controversial and has sparked many debates among citizens, legislatures, police departments, federal agencies, and civil rights groups (Burnett, 1998). Aside from the debate over whether cameras and citations issued to the registered vehicle owner based on recorded information are constitutional (or whether they merely constitute an (Orwellian invasion of privacy), the widely accepted principle that whether cameras lessen the severity of and/or prevent car accidents is also intensely contested. Proponents of implementing red light cameras and speed cameras are adamant that the use of such devices deters code violations. and reduces accidents (City of Johnson City, TN, n.d. Research supports these claims......middle of article......guson, SA and Farmer, CM (2007). ).Reducing red light running through longer yellow signal synchronization and red light camera enforcement: results from a field survey Retrieved from http://www.stopredlightrunning.comRuby, DE. and Hobeika, AG (Summer 2003). Rating Red Light Cameras in Fairfax County, Virginia. Transportation Quarterly, 57(3), 33-48. Shifflett, G. and Owen, J. (2008, September 22). Red Light Cameras in the Voluntary State: Dangerous, Unconstitutional, and Unnecessary (Tennessee Center for Policy Research Policy Brief 04-08). Excerpt from The Newspaper: www.thenewspaper.com Smile, you're in front of the camera. (2009, November). State Legislatures, 35(2), 11. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.etsu.edu: The red light camera never lies. (November 13, 2009). The helpline. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.etsu.edu.