Company cleared in photo radar scandal

A provincial court judge dismissed all charges against a photo radar company accused of offering bribes to two Edmonton police officers.

'ACS has maintained all along that conduct has been ethical and legal.' Kevin Lightfoot, Affiliated Computer Services

In a pre-trial ruling in Edmonton on Tuesday, Judge Michael Allen ruled there wasn't sufficient evidence to hold a trial against Affiliated Computer Services, which is based in Dallas, Texas.

The company was charged with being a party to a breach of trustand two counts of offering a benefit to a public official after an RCMP investigation that lasted almost two years.

The company was accused of improper dealings with two officers, including offering 10 Edmonton Oilers hockey tickets, in acquiring an untendered photo radar contract with the city worth $90 million.

"ACS has maintained all along that conduct has been ethical and legal and the company feels vindicated that the court has recognized this fact," company spokesman Kevin Lightfoot told CBC News.

"We were disappointed that this charge were brought in the first place and that the company was subjected to the damage to our reputation in over two years of protracted legal proceedings."

ACS originally won a 20-year contract to run Edmonton's photo radar, but the city decided in July to run its own system.

Staff Sgt. Kerry Nisbet, one of the twoofficersinvolved in the allegations,was cleared of breach of trust in September. He was accused of interfering with the testing of equipment owned by ACS.

The other, Sgt. Thomas Edmund Bell, is scheduled to go to trial on one count of breach of trust for producing misleading documents and false statements in helping ACS obtain the contract.