Ontario Premier Doug Ford told Ontarians to “stay tuned” for an announcement next week on how his government plans to slow down speeders without “gouging” the public through Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras.“They’ve taken hundreds and hundreds of millions out of taxpayers’ pockets,” Ford said Friday of the cameras while at an unrelated announcement about a new Chapman’s ice cream facility coming to Markdale.“God knows the government gouges people enough on their taxes and every other penny they can get off them. You wanna slow down traffic, stay tuned, next week I’m going to show you.”Ford also said he wasn’t swayed by a letter penned by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) in support of the cameras.The OACP said in a statement Thursday that the cameras, which have been routinely targeted by vandals in Toronto, reduce speeding while at the same time freeing up police resources to focus on other public safety priorities.“Employing ASE tools has been proven to reduce speeding, change driver behaviour, and make our roads safer for everyone — drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and especially children and other vulnerable road users,” the OACP wrote.“These tools are especially deployed in school zones and community safety zones, where slowing down saves lives and prevents serious injuries.”When asked about that statement, Ford said he called the OACP Chair personally, but wasn’t swayed.“I had an opportunity to call the Chief yesterday that put that letter out, he’s the Chair, and he’s doing his job,” Ford said while chomping on an ice cream sandwich. “If I go to the doctor’s and I’m eating this ice cream, he’ll go ‘stop eating ice cream.’ ““There’s better ways to slow down traffic than to gouge the public,” he continued between bites. “This is nothing but a tax grab. I’ve talked to mayors offline they’ve admitted, two of them yesterday, ‘yeah, I admit it’s a tax grab, but we need money for the roads.’ You don’t go after people,” he argued. “It doesn’t slow traffic down.”Ford did concede that drivers familiar with speed camera locations do slow down, but said the cameras still nab those who are unaware of their locations.“So people in the area, they learn there’s a speed trap, they slow down. But how about people that are going through the community? The whole idea is to slow the traffic, right?”The premier said his government would find other ways to ensure roads were safe, especially in school zones.“Going through school zones, 100 per cent, we’ll have the flashing lights, we’ll have the signs, we can have turnabouts, we can have speed bumps, there’s a million different ways to slow people down if that’s truly what they want to do.”“Speed cameras do not slow people down that are driving through a community or driving down a road for the first time, so I’m going to teach them how to do it next week.”Related:16 Toronto speed cameras found cut down Tuesday morning, police release images of Parkside suspectsCutdown controversy: Ford ‘dead against’ speed cameras, but Chow says without them more will dieNew video shows moment Parkside Drive speed camera is cut downPremier Ford applauds Vaughan’s move to scrap ‘cash grab’ speed camera programThe Association of Municipalities of Ontario also penned Ford a letter urging him to change his stance. That letter cited a July study from SickKids and Toronto Metropolitan University that found the cameras reduced speeding by 45 per cent in Toronto.“The evidence shows that if (automated speed enforcement) cameras are removed, speeds will increase in community safety zones and more pedestrians will be at risk,” association president Robin Jones wrote in the letter. “Instead, we strongly recommend that you work with municipalities to ensure we have the tools we need to ensure road safety.”When asked about the issue at Queen’s Park last week, Ford hinted that he could intervene to have the cameras removed. “Hopefully the cities will get rid of them … or I’m going to help them get rid of them very shortly.”With files from the Canadian Press