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The City Council has enacted an ordinance that will allow the Winnfield City Police Department to work with Meta Solutions to use their hand-held electronic device that can measure vehicle speed, photograph the license and match that with the vehicle’s registration to generate traffic tickets. Ordinance 6 was introduced at the council’s April meeting, tabled in May and approved June 11.
Police explain the device is similar to the familiar Radar Gun in that it’s hand-held by an officer in their police car and aimed at a moving vehicle. The difference is that the offending vehicle is not stopped and the driver stopped and ticketed face-to-face by the officer. The Meta Solutions process is automated and the ticket will arrive in the mail, complete with all of the how-to-respond information.
Chief Johnny Ray Carpenter told the Journal that two primary reasons propelled the department’s request for this system. “We’re not trying to make this a speed trap or anything. This is for the safety of our officers. The most dangerous situation for an officer is response to domestic violence. But the No. 2 hazard is a traffic stop. This new system will eliminate the potential of face-to-face confrontation. That safety issue also goes for our children because the speeding that I’m most concerned about goes on around our schools.”
Carpenter cited the second reason as shortage of officers to handle the various other issues around the city. “The speed enforcement will be conducted by off-duty officers, leaving our on-duty force free to handle other tasks. This program will focus on the five-lane, mainly around our schools.”
Lt. Charles Curry noted that the department has been looking at the concept for some years but early models in metro areas like New Orleans and Baton Rouge are associated with larger companies and monitoring is conducted by fixed overhead cameras, with some negative connotations. “The hand-held device keeps the human element intact,” he said.
While automated, ticking won’t be automatic. Both Carpenter and Curry said some leeway, about 10 mph over, will be programmed into the devices before they can photograph a license plate. That image is relayed directly to Meta Solutions for processing but the Police Department will get a monthly list to review and approve before tickets are mailed out.
Curry explained that it will be a few months before the system is fully in place. Equipment will be delivered, signage put up and a public information program conducted by the company. Then a test month is planned when the license plates of speeding vehicles will be photographed and letters sent out…but those will be warnings.
True fines will begin the following month. Fines are increasingly higher as excess speeds increase. Fines are even higher in school zones. For its part, Meta Solutions will retain 40% of the fines paid, the department and council indicated.