https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/12/major-chicago-st...
..because most people don't want to intentionally run red lights.
Furthermore, most cities run these as civil violations, but if you take them to court, the courts run them under criminal procedures. IANAL, but there was an excellent post someone shared on HN a few weeks back where a law professor fought one of these tickets (I can't seem to find it right now). He wasn't driving, but felt the burden of proof shouldn't reside with him, but the state.
He lost his case, had to appeal, won that case and was never given any of the bond he issued to appeal.
These tickets don't add points to your license in most states, their safety improvements are questionable, and they're pretty much a money making racket for cites and the companies that make/run the cameras.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/01/op-ed-how-i-turn...
Yes, it is.
> You're not more likely to get a ticket in a poorer, more high crime neighborhood, just because there happen to be more police there.
IME, you (the same person) are more likely to get a traffic ticket in a rich, low-crime neighborhood, because the police that are there are more likely to be concerned with writing traffic tickets.
People who live in poorer, high-crime areas are more likely to get tickets (in either poor or rich neighborhoods), but that's a different problem. (And, unlike the one you identify, one that automation might actually help.)
But, in any case, there's as much opportunity for bias (and by the same people) in placing devices that automatically issue tickets as their is in placing officers, plus automated devices don't mean that human officers can no longer issue tickets, so no matter which direction it operates in, the source of bias you identify (that is, inequity based on choices of deployment of officers) is not addressed by automation.
See: cars parked brazenly illegally are rarely beaters.
These types of "democratizations" usually leave the poor even worse off, where they have no extra-legal wiggle room (chat with the cop) and no intra-legal resources.
See: Modern credit cards, mobile phone billing, etc.
Look at what redlining hath wrought:
The red light cameras here are mainly on large intersections, 6th and Speer etc. Not really poor nor rich more based upon volume of traffic.
The busiest roads (and thus those most likely to get cameras) are fed by those who are commuting into town to a day job; not by those who live in-town. This immediately creates a bias based on income; the larger the city and the higher the costs of living in the city, the bigger the bias.
These decisions are also made by different groups of people, and a city's elected leadership tends to better reflect the population's diversity than the police department.