A Greenwich resident has filed a class action lawsuit against the town over its controversial automated speed camera program.
In a complaint filed on September 8, Stephen Lockton, alleged the town of Greenwich failed to hold a public hearing over the speed camera program before the town approved them.
Lockton’s attorney, Timothy Cowan, said his client is looking for a refund.
“The demand is essentially that those individuals be compensated,” Cowan said. “So, ultimately if they had one speeding ticket, they paid $50 plus a surcharge. We're looking to recover that amount for each person who was subject to that.”
The lawsuit comes as Greenwich and other communities across the state have faced public outcry over the speed cameras. Some residents have characterized the cameras as a way for municipalities to extract money from residents, which Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo denies.
Camillo declined to talk about the lawsuit on Monday. But he said the town followed the rules.
“We had the public hearing,” Camillo said. “In fact, some towns had it much later than we did. This is a very new program, so obviously, all lots of towns have had to go back and amend because it's new, and you have to understand that, and I certainly understand that.”
Greenwich ended up pausing its speed camera program last April, due to public outcry.
Camillo previously told Connecticut Public the town voted to resend a plan for state approval earlier this year. CT Department of Transportation (DOT) spokesperson Eva Zymaris said the town last resubmitted the plan in August.
Zymaris said the DOT’s Office of the State Traffic Administration (OSTA) provided feedback.
“The plan needs further revisions to incorporate updated guidelines that specify additional signage approaching the school zones and flashers on school zone speed limit signs,” Zymaris said. “The application remains pending until comments are addressed by the town.”
Zymaris said since the automated speed camera programs are administered by municipalities the DOT did not have any information on ongoing lawsuits over the program.
Lockton is currently the only plaintiff named in the lawsuit, Cowan said.
The complaint itself states residents found out through a Freedom of Information Act filing earlier this year and the town didn’t hold a public comment section for a Board of Selectmen meeting in 2024. The board later approved the Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices (ATESD) plan.
The lawsuit says the lack of a public hearing before the plan was eventually approved by the Board of Selectmen in 2025, violated state law. It also states the town later held a public hearing - earlier this year. The complaint also states the town’s contractor, Blue Line Solutions, based in Tennessee, collected payments and fees without setting up a Qualified Public Depository, before sending payments to Greenwich.
Blue Line Solutions did not answer Connecticut Public’s request for comment. Cowan said more than $1 million have been collected so far.
“Through public filings, it looks to be at least $ 1.4 million from the few months that it was operating, but there could be late payments that we don't know of,” Cowan said.
The lawsuit states the funds raised by ticket payments have to be used to fund public safety or roadways. But the complaint stated the town violated those requirements by directing ticket revenue to what it titled, “3 E’s” fund, engineering, Enforcement and Education instead of infrastructure or camera improvements.
Camillo did not answer the particular lawsuit claims but defended the speed camera program.
“It was never about revenue,” Camillo said. “If it was about revenue, we'd have them up 24/7, and we'd have them at every school zone. Not about revenue. It's about public safety. It always has been, and it always will be.”
