Report blasts Chicago's red light camera program

Chicago's inspector general says the administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been "seriously deficient" in managing city's troubled red light camera program.

The latest review by the city's top watchdog was prompted by a Chicago Tribune investigation that revealed unexplained spikes in tickets.

Inspector General Joe Ferguson said Friday that the city failed to meet obligations to request and review data from its former vendor, Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. The report found that doing so could have caught the enforcement anomalies that led to the surge in tickets.

Ferguson's report said unannounced changes to the system's enforcement parameters, whether intentional or not, "foster an appearance of unfairness in the program."

Emanuel has vowed to give motorists an extra chance to appeal tickets and to refund any issued improperly.