12 On Your Side Investigates: Follow up on Ga. speed camera bills
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Two hotly debated bills now sit in front of a Georgia Senate subcommittee.
Lawmakers at the Georgia State Capitol continue to hear testimony on automated school zone speed cameras around the state.
Local governments are cashing in on speed cameras.
This is a story we continue to follow because it’s possibly taking money right out of your wallet.
One Georgia sheriff compared these private camera companies to “salemen” who are concerned more with making a sale than safety.
Gary Long, Butts County Sheriff, said, “Since these cameras started, I’ve had a bad taste in my mouth.”
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“It’s clearly policing for profit,” said James Dutton, vice chair of Spalding County Commission.
Long also said, “Right now, it’s just policing for profit.”
Representative Dale Washburn said, “This whole thing is revenue-based policing.”
“Taxation through citation, that’s what it makes me believe,” said Long.
The foot is on the gas at the Georgia State Capitol as the Senate Public Safety Subcommittee hears testimony from both sides - those for and against automated school zone speed cameras while private camera companies pump the brakes.
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Greg Parks of Redspeed Georgia said, “It is not a gotcha system. We want transparency.”
“We believe that this is a genuine way to reduce those bad actors of driving,” said Zach Watts, CTO of Blue Line Solutions.
“Statewide, we are seeing over 90% not receive a second citation, so it is a modifying behavior,” said Parks.
After Crossover Day, two House bills sit in front of Georgia state senators.
Washburn’s House Bill 225, “It proposes the ban of school zone cameras in Georgia,” said Washburn.
And Representative Alan Powell’s House Bill 651, “It’s not a banishment, but it’s to rein this practice in,” said Powell.
The focus of these hearings is to understand all sides of this issue. From lawmakers, private companies, and those impacted by these cameras, including examples of how some cameras operate around the state.
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“I heard the story yesterday that there was a 47-car funeral procession,” said Powell.
Randy Robertson, of the public safety committee, said, “I got that same phone call.”
“And they ticketed 47 vehicles in the funeral procession,” said Powell.
“I think it was 50 and they ticketed everyone but the two law enforcement vehicles that were leading the procession,” said Robertson.
In Butts County, southeast of Atlanta, Long testified he was targeted by these private camera companies. “Salesman, that’s what they were. They didn’t show me statistics. They didn’t show me how many kids were hit at crosswalks. They didn’t tell me how it was going to reduce things.”
“Their exact words to me were ‘Sheriff, if you let us put these cameras up in your school zones, we can guarantee you 1 to 2 million dollars in revenue a year that you can spend how you want to spend on your equipment,’” said Long.
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That’s essentially what’s happened here locally. We investigated just how much money local governments collected from taxpayers, including the city of Wrens and Burke County.
In just eight months, Burke County collected nearly $640,000 from cameras in front of Burke County High School. The city of Wrens has collected more than $444,000 since 2022. 12 On Your Side’s findings are part of the testimony at the statehouse.
Washburn said, “There’s an example over in Burke County, south of Augusta, I heard from a county manager over there, and they collected on a single school, I believe it’s on the state route by, they collected half a million dollars in seven months.
Critics cite issues with due process challenging the citations. Privacy issues are also a concern. Senators are calling this a modern-day speed trap.
Long said, “We are requiring less from a camera than we do a deputy, a police officer, or a trooper who took an oath.”
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So, are innocent drivers being ticketed?
A company called Altumint operates cameras in Burke County and Wrens, and for over eight months, we’ve been asking Altumint for a list of citations mailed to drivers.
We believe those citations are public information and, by law, should be handed over.
After months of delays, Altumint now wants to charge us $7,000 to redact data from the citations, again, citations that we believe the law says are public information.
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