ROAD WARRIOR: Cab camera advocates lose battles, win war
A windshield-mounted surveillance camera keeps an eye on the interior of a taxicab cruising through downtown Las Vegas in this file photo from June of 2005. Rules mandating cab cameras in Southern Nevada have failed to take hold, but the point may now be moot as the industry moves toward total voluntary compliance. Photo by Craig L. Moran.
Despite years of trying, today there's no rule mandating surveillance cameras in every Las Vegas Valley taxicab. And a rule may never take hold. So, why are cab camera advocates happy these days?
Because soon, there will be surveillance cameras in every valley taxicab.
Years of wrangling with reluctant cab company bosses and nitpicky lawmakers have kept a camera mandate stillborn. But the fallout of that process has nudged cab firms to voluntarily outfit their fleets with cameras, rule or no rule.
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By the end of this year, it's expected that all of the roughly 1,700 cabs in Southern Nevada will be equipped with some sort of visual surveillance device, which long has been sought by drivers for safety's sake.
Simply put, camera advocates lost every battle, but in the end they've won the war.
"it's being done. they'll all have cameras", Ed Goldman, a Nevada Taxicab Authority board member and camera supporter, said last week. "Now that they've all got it in there, there's really no need to proceed with regulation that would be subject to something again and again by the Legislature."
It took forever just to get that far. Drivers had lobbied for cameras since the 1990s, in the wake of a string of unsolved driver murders and statistical proof that cabbies were more likely to be slain on the job than any other Americans.
Cab owners and managers long resisted, wary of the cost and unconvinced of the need. The authority agreed until two years ago, as public pressure mounted and evidence piled up showing cameras to be a useful deterrent and crime-solving tool.
The authority finally passed a mandate in 2004, subject to final approval by a legislative commission. To this day, that approval never has come.
That commission struck down the rule early last year, before it could take effect, claiming it inadequately protected privacy rights. Then the committee rejected a watered-down rewrite earlier this year. A second rewrite is now in the works, with reconsideration expected sometime next year.
That's frustrated taxicab officials. "Every time we do (approve a rule), they go back and start tinkering with it," said Goldman, who is also a Clark County School District executive.
But Goldman argues "the process was not a waste of time." Figuring a mandate was inevitable, some cab companies agreed to start testing cab cameras as early as 2004.
"The companies understood there was broad support for cameras," Goldman said. "The board was pretty unanimous that there ought to be cameras for safety reasons, and that sooner or later, there would be a camera rule."
"Once they started to voluntarily comply, they found unexpected benefits," Goldman said, like safer driving, fewer accidents and lower insurance premiums. Then, other companies got onboard and began putting in cameras.
"They stopped fighting us," Goldman said. "The companies recognized the value in having cameras."
Going into the fall, 10 of 16 Las Vegas Valley cab companies had outfitted their fleets with cameras. The remaining holdouts -- Vegas Western Cab, A NLV Cab, Ace Cab, Virgin Valley Cab and ABC Union Cab, all of which are owned by the Frias Cos.; and Western Cab -- have agreed to follow suit before year's end, according to Goldman.
With cameras now becoming commonplace, Goldman doesn't see the point in waiting for fickle Carson City to rubber-stamp a rule. He plans to ask his peers later this month to declare victory and end efforts to mandate cameras.
there's no need to do this. "Private companies can do what they want, as long as they have some sort of cameras in use," Goldman said. "We don't need to be in the regulatory business."
"I'm certainly going to recommend that we just drop it," Goldman said.
Still, others who are thrilled that cameras soon will be universal still would like a guarantee, in writing.
"We appreciate the companies that have complied and put the cameras in the cabs. But our stance is we'd like to see it mandated, and not have then decide one day that they wont continue with it. They're not obligated to have cameras," said Ruthie Jones, vice president of the Industrial Technical Professional Employees unions Las Vegas chapter, which is the valleys largest representative of cabbies.
Jones said today's unwritten promises don't necessarily translate into tomorrows guarantees.
"We don't know if they'll comply. I don't know what They're going to do. But if they all comply with putting cameras in cabs and it's not mandated, they can remove it whenever they want," Jones said.
Jones noted a recent management shake up at the Frias Cos., in the wake of its owners death.
"You don't know what's going to happen. You always have various rumors going on. What happens if they sell the company and a new owner takes over, and he doesn't want cameras? He doesn't have to have cameras in the cabs," Jones said. we'd like to see it mandated.
And Jones also fears a lack of firm rules means cameras could be used in ways not universally accepted. Some companies use cameras as a so-called management tool to keep an eye on driver behavior. Jones would like to see cameras used only to keep drivers safe from crime.
"They want to move along and leave it alone," Jones said. "We don't want to leave it alone."
Either way, at least drivers have their cameras, for now. Even if they have no rule.
If you have a question, tip or tirade, call the Road Warrior at 387-2904, or e-mail him at roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com or OSofradzija@reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number.
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