COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) says it incorrectly fined drivers after its speed camera vendor implemented a software update on July 21.
The police department said the software update changed internal location codes, which caused the fines to be issued at a much steeper cost. The error was discovered while reviewing citations Sept. 1, when CSPD staff found a summons that incorrectly listed an $80 fine instead of a $40 one. After looking deeper into the issue, staff also determined the erroneous billing affected several different neighborhood and park locations.
The CSPD said only about 2.8% of the locations stored within the system were affected — 34 out of 1,212. As a result, 2,764 citation carried an $80 fine instead of a $40 fine.
Upon review, the police department determined that each of the 2,764 speeding tickets was valid. The software update only impacted the monetary cost of the fines themselves, not the validity of the ticket.
About 700 of the doubled citations were already paid by the time CSPD staff caught the error. Anyone who did will receive a $40 refund check in their mailbox within the next four to six weeks.
For those who have not paid their speeding tickets yet, the CSPD said court records have been updated to reflect the correct $40 fine. The correct balance will also appear when the person who received the ticket tries to pay either online or in person.
Verra Mobility, the company responsible for the erroneous billing, has already sent letters to everyone affected by the error. An example provided by the CSPD is below.
