Rio Rancho speed cameras vandalized in separate attacks, police investigate

Police in Rio Rancho were investigating vandalism that hit two speed-camera boxes in separate attacks, a new test for a program that has become one of the city’s sharpest traffic-safety flashpoints. Someone spray-painted one camera box in southeast Rio Rancho last week and another in the northeast over the weekend, leaving both the housing and the glass covering the cameras coated and potentially impairing the devices until repairs were finished.

A city worker said the damage has not always stopped at paint. Recent vandalism, the worker said, has ranged from simple spray paint to breakage that damages camera equipment, a sign that even nonfatal attacks can cost the city time and money. The worker also said the graffiti style appeared similar in both incidents, including drawings of male anatomy, raising the possibility that the same person was involved.

The Rio Rancho Police Department said the vandal could face a criminal damage to property charge if caught. But investigators may have a hard time identifying the person because the camera video does not clearly show who was responsible. No one had been charged in earlier vandalism incidents involving camera boxes on Lincoln Avenue and Enchanted Hills, where police said in February that the devices were spray-painted in separate parts of the city.

The attacks landed at a time when Rio Rancho’s automated traffic enforcement is already under close scrutiny. The city’s Safe Traffic Operations Program has used automated traffic enforcement since 2011, and it now operates 10 mobile speed-monitoring units through a contract with Verra Mobility that requires the company to repair, maintain and monitor the cameras daily at no additional cost to the city. Citations begin at 11 mph over the posted limit on most roads and 5 mph over in school zones, and each violation carries a $100 penalty.

Rio Rancho switched to smaller mobile camera units on Dec. 13, 2025, and began issuing citations on Jan. 27 after a 45-day warning period that produced more than 15,000 warning notices. KRQE News 13 reported that the cameras were first deployed at 10 locations around the city and that they move every one to two weeks, a rotation meant to keep the enforcement presence mobile across Rio Rancho.

That mobility has not insulated the program from resistance. Two damaged camera boxes in different parts of the city show how quickly automated enforcement can become a target, turning a traffic-safety tool into a public fight over speeding, citations and trust in city government.