Brockton, MA Mobility & Curb Rules: Red-Light Cameras (2026)

Section 12-170 lets the police department install automated cameras at designated 'system locations' and issue civil citations, not criminal charges, to the registered owner of any vehicle that crosses a marked stop line or enters the intersection while its traffic signal shows a steady red light. A police-chief-appointed review officer runs the program, maintains the list of camera locations, and issues notices of violation by first-class mail, which must include the recorded images, the vehicle's registration and violation details, the penalty schedule, and instructions for requesting a hearing.

Notices go out within fourteen days for Massachusetts-registered vehicles and twenty-one days for out-of-state vehicles. The penalty is fifty dollars per violation, and it grows by up to thirty-three and one-third percent if left unpaid more than twenty days after the notice issues. The ordinance carves out seven defenses, including that the vehicle was reported stolen, the operator was yielding to an emergency vehicle, protecting person or property, in a funeral procession, or already convicted of the underlying moving violation. An owner has twenty days to request a non-criminal hearing before a hearing officer designated by the review officer; the hearing is informal, the citation is prima facie evidence, and the decision is final subject to judicial review under Chapter 30A, Section 14 of the General Laws.

A civil penalty under this section is not a criminal conviction and does not go on the operator's driving record, but an owner who ignores the notice or a hearing finding can be reported to the Registry of Motor Vehicles.