Dougherty commissioners express concerns related to school speed cameras

ALBANY – A proposal to place speed cameras at four school campuses was met with a less than enthusiastic reception by the Dougherty County Commission on Monday..

The proposal from the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office calls for the installation of the speed-detection devices at Merry Acres Elementary School, Merry Acres Middle School and the lower and upper campuses of the private Deerfield-Windsor School.

The initiative was proposed to improve school safety where surveys indicated the most risk due to driving violations near the campuses occur, Sheriff’s Chief Deputy John Ostrander told commissioners. Among the statistics he gave are that 25,000 students are injured in school zone accidents each year, resulting in more than 100 children being killed.

Statistics also show that reducing the speed of cars makes accidents more survivable, Ostrander said.

A survey over a school day on Holly Drive in the Merry Acres Elementary School zone measured more than 150 violations, the chief deputy said.

“During one eight-hour period on Holly Drive, there were 166 violations,” Ostrander said. “There are elementary kids in a school zone. There are 166 opportunities for an elementary school kid to be killed during an eight-hour period. This is a desperate need.”

The city of Albany has speed cameras at 11 school campuses in the city after contracting with the company RedSpeed in 2021 to install the devices.. The sheriff’s office’s proposal would add two cameras to the city at Deerfield-Windsor and the first two to be placed in unincorporated Dougherty County at the two Merry Acres campuses.

The speed cameras have been a frequent source of complaints from motorists who are ticketed. After a review process, the police department sends a ticket to the registered owner of the car caught on camera. Fines are $80 for a first violation and $135 for each subsequent violation, and fines issued already have topped more than $14 million..

However, Albany Police Chief Michael Persley has said that the goal of the program is to change the behavior of drivers rather than impose fines. Last year, he said that a 2024 report indicated that there had been a 95% reduction of speeding violators since 2021.

Use of the devices at schools is a way to enforce speeding violations without having to commit resources, Ostrander said.

“These cameras allow a level of enforcement without having to consistently dedicate staff to these areas at certain hours,” he said.

County commissioners had several criticisms of the proposal, including the cost to motorists in fines.

The commission shot down a speed camera proposal from the Dougherty County Police Department in 2021, and Commissioner Russell Gray said his reasoning is the same as before.

“There weren’t any issues for our county or our city that needed to be solved,” he said. “We don’t have a high incident rate. We don’t have many people walking to school anymore.

“I’m not going to look at creating ways to raise money from residents and visitors.”

Instead of the speed cameras, the commissioner suggested the use of speed displays that use radar to measure the speed of cars and display it to drivers.

The devices flash the driver’s speed when the speed is in excess of the posted limit.

“The idea is to change behavior,” he said. “Speed bumps and speed cameras are a nuclear option.”

The Georgia Legislature last year also considered several pieces of legislation to place restrictions on speed camera use or do away with them entirely, Commissioner Ed Newsome said. While none of the bills became law in 2025, he said, it is possible that legislation could be approved and become law this year.

Commissioner Victor Edwards said that he also is concerned about residents being hit with fines. He also said that the sheriff’s office has other obligations that are a higher priority than enforcing traffic laws, specifically working to reduce the jail population.

“I’m not going to throw any more hardship on people,” Edwards said. “That’s going to be a hardship.”

Edwards said he would be more receptive if the money received through fines is divided between the six commission districts in order to allow their use for items such as speed-calming devices.

Funds received through fines, after RedSpeed receives its portion, would go to the county and can be spent on law enforcement, public safety or school safety initiatives, Ostrander said.

Because its jurisdiction includes the entire county, both inside the city of Albany and outside, the sheriff’s office can have cameras installed at Deerfield-Windsor, where they are already allowed, but needs approval from the county to install them at a location in unincorporated Dougherty County.

“The sheriff has a constitutional mandate to ensure the safety in Dougherty County,” he said. “This is definitely within our mandate.”