Winter Park Police Department is looking into the need for speed enforcement technology at school zones in accordance with a state law, passed in 2023.
House Bill 657 authorizes municipalities to enforce speed limits in school zones through automated speed detection systems and to issue traffic citations by traffic enforcement officers. The automated devices are similar to red light cameras, capturing photos or video of the license plates of vehicles moving more than 10 mph over the posted speed limit. The question of Winter Park’s possible involvement was directed to Police Chief Timothy Volkerson by Mayor Sheila DeCiccio during the Aug. 14 City Commission meeting.
“Before the law was passed, we did an initial traffic study in several of our school zones; we haven’t moved much further past that,” Volkerson responded, adding the police department will seek feedback from municipalities currently working through the process before deciding whether or not to recommend the system to City Commission.
According to a WESH 2 News report, Eustis installed the school zone cameras in February, making it the first Florida city to move forward with the enforcement method. Hanes City and St. Cloud are among other cities that have approved the measure, and Manatee County is beginning its school zone speed enforcement program this week. Enforcement begins with warnings issued to violators during an initial 30-day period. After 30 days, violators receive a notice and a $100 fine.
Volkerson told the32789 that Winter Park Police Department currently provides a traffic enforcement officer in school zones to address speeders, and that an established process for city approval of the new program would need to be followed before installation can begin. “We have several school zones within the city,” he said, “and each would need to be assessed independently if the city decides to move forward.”