Long Island village issuing stop-sign camera tickets though state law lacking

As automated traffic cameras have become a common enforcement feature on Long Island, one small village in Nassau County decided to curb aggressive driving by rolling out its own ticket monitoring system. This time, at stop signs.

Saddle Rock, home to just under 1,000 residents and encompassing about a ¼-mile, started issuing $60 tickets last summer. But unlike other ticket cameras — at red lights, on school buses and highway work zones — it’s unclear whether the Saddle Rock initiative has any legal basis to operate. There is no state law that allows for camera enforcement at stop signs.

Spurred by traffic safety concerns in the area, Saddle Rock Mayor Dan Levy said the village voted to install cameras near stop signs last year and chose Great Neck company Stop For Kids to run it.

“The whole concept is to make my neighborhood more secure,” Levy said. “I'm not looking for 60 bucks. I don't need it. We have plenty of money in the budget.”

In an interview in his office, Levy declined to answer basic questions about the program, including how much money it has brought in, how money is divided with the vendor, and the number of fines and cameras. 

He added there was no contract with the vendor, which he said operates on a month-to-month basis.

 Near the Saddle Rock entryway, unassuming traffic signs read, “Stop Signs are monitored by cameras,” and in smaller print, “Violators will be issued a summons by mail.”

Cameras were spotted in three locations last week. At one intersection on Emerson Drive near Byron Lane, three cameras were mounted on a pole at three stop signs. A small red sign on the pole warned, “$2500 Fine Tampering with Cameras.”

'I had no clue'

As in the case of other camera enforcement programs in the state, detractors believe it's a veiled cash-generating effort.

Frank Romano, 65, of Rockville Centre, said he wasn’t aware of the program until he received three tickets roughly two months ago after he failed to come to a full stop in each case.

“It just seems like it’s a money thing. I had no clue until I got a ticket,” he said.

While state law authorized other camera programs, there is currently no such legislation that allows for camera enforcement at stop signs. Municipalities aren’t permitted to enact camera-ticketing programs without authorization by the State Legislature, state transportation officials said.

Assemb. Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor), a member of the Assembly Committee on Transportation, said enabling state legislation is required to hold the owner of the vehicle liable. He also said the State Legislature hasn't seen any bill proposals for camera programs near stop signs.

Municipal law expert Paul Sabatino, former counsel to the Suffolk County Legislature, said that while state vehicle and traffic laws grant municipalities the authority to implement traffic control devices, it is subject to state specifications.

“The normal doctrine of exercising on home rule power is always subject to whatever the state restricts or limits, so here they cannot … exercise the Home Rule power to overturn or supersede what the state requirements are,” Sabatino said.

Former trustee is at company

Levy said it’s the first such program in the county, and he was not aware of any state requirement barring him from implementing it. He said the village board of trustees turned to powers vested in Municipal Home Rule Law, which allows municipalities to enact local laws.

The mayor also acknowledged that Kamran Barelli, a former village trustee, is a principal of Stop For Kids, the company providing the cameras, but stressed that Barelli had ended his relationship as board trustee with the village long before the village contracted with Stop For Kids.

"I don't know how long … his company was working on it. We did not engage him while he was a board member. He was long gone before we engaged this company," Levy said.

“There weren’t two choices. This is the only one that had [the technology],” Levy said.

Stop For Kids shares the same address as SCBW Ltd., where a K. Barelli is registered as CEO, according to state records. Both companies are registered at 1 Welwyn Rd. in Great Neck. Stop For Kids was started in 2018 and, according the website, most of the profits go "directly to families affected by pedestrian accidents."

Barelli could not be reached for comment, and an inquiry sent to Stop For Kids via its website went unanswered.

Levy said it was the residents who first pushed for the enforcement after being fed up with speeding and reckless drivers. He said the village was distraught after two mothers, one pushing a stroller, were hit by vehicles in separate incidents several years ago.

“We elected to go along with it, knowing that it will be not the most popular program in the world in the beginning," Levy said. "But surprisingly, even those who got fined understood why, and in the end, agreed that this was the best solution because they see the results.”

Before the enforcement, Levy said Stop for Kids conducted a three-month study in the spring of 2022, showing that only 3% of drivers were hitting the brakes at stop signs. Since the program started, nearly 97% of drivers are now completing full three-second stops, he said.

But now that he said driver behavior has drastically improved, the ticketing program may be scrapped altogether.

“I'm hoping we can do away with it shortly because I'm close to 100% compliance, so there's no reason to continue,” Levy said.

If people fall back to their old ways, he said the program would be restored.