A case on the Mississippi Gulf Coast could provide an interesting test of whether state law allows police officers to record speeding vehicles and send a ticket to violators. We think Clarksdale police and city leaders may want to watch it closely.
The city of Moss Point has equipped its police officers with hand-held cameras to find drivers who are breaking traffic laws. The cameras record vehicles and license plates. The city then mails owners a ticket.
The legal question is whether a hand-held camera qualifies as an “automated recording equipment or system to enforce compliance with traffic signals, traffic speeds or other traffic laws.” If the court finds that hand-held devices meet that definition, they probably would be ruled illegal under a 2009 bill that passed with bipartisan support in the Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Haley Barbour.
Responding to the lawsuit, the city said the 2009 law does not prevent police officers from operating a hand-held camera. It said the radar device and video camera cannot be used without someone activating it. Because of that, they contend, it is not automated.
It’s pretty easy to predict that any type of camera designed to catch speeding drivers unaware is unpopular. But to be fair, there are benefits to this strategy.
Intellisafe, the company whose equipment Moss Point is using, reported a study of traffic on two of the city’s busy streets found that 87% of drivers were going faster than the 30 mph speed limit.
The company also said that officers operating the hand-held cameras are in no danger because they do not stop a vehicle. And since there is no confrontation, there is no chance of a high-speed pursuit that could injure bystanders.
Intellisafe’s equipment also is being used in a pilot program in Hattiesburg to reduce speeding in school zones. The company said Hattiesburg police issued 703 citations in four weeks.
Your Clarksdale Press Register will add that our courts will have to make people pay these tickets or issue a warrant for their arrest.
Clarksdale has more than its fair share of speeders and sadly we have too few police officers. Our speed bumps are not working. Our Mayor’s politically purchased SkyCop cameras are a $500,000 joke. We will also point out here hasn’t been a police roadblock or “safety checkpoint” around here in years.
Law enforcement officers need all the tools they can muster to make our streets and highway safer. Maybe “speed cameras” are a solution. They couldn’t hurt and they might help.
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