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Contractor pitches automated school‑zone enforcement to Covington council; says program costs municipalities nothing up front
Summary
A representative from automated enforcement vendor Blue Line Solutions told the council she conducted five‑day speed studies at Covington school zones and proposed a LiDAR‑based camera program that she said is zero cost to the city initially, uses an 11 mph threshold for violations and shares fine revenue with the city and participating schools.
Blue Line Solutions representative Barb Manton presented school‑zone speed study results to the council during the meeting’s public comment period and outlined the company’s automated speed‑enforcement program, which the company markets as a turnkey, zero‑cost option for municipalities.
Manton said her firm conducted five‑day speed counts at multiple school zones in Covington and that the company’s LiDAR (laser) detection system focuses enforcement on drivers exceeding the posted school‑zone speed limit by 11 miles per hour or more. “Blue Line’s automated enforcement program is an end to end program,” she said, adding the vendor performs data collection, public education, a 30‑day warning period and then active enforcement with civil citations reviewed and approved by the Covington Police Department.
Manton described the process she said the company follows: initial five‑day data collection, public outreach and education, a 30‑day warning window during which citations are warnings, then full enforcement. She said typical results in other Louisiana school zones include a 96–97 percent reduction in high‑speed violations after the program is fully implemented. The company uses LiDAR units rather than radar, mounts signage at regulated distances and supplies and maintains cameras and signage; Manton said the vendor is responsible for equipment repair or replacement after storms or damage and that cameras typically cost roughly $60,000 each.
Council members and the public asked about revenue and control. Manton said fines are split with the city, with the city receiving the majority; some portion also typically goes to participating schools under the state’s cooperative‑endeavor framework. She said the Covington Police Department must review and approve each citation before it is issued, characterizing the program as a “police force multiplier” that frees officers for other enforcement tasks.
No formal action was taken by the council on the proposal during the meeting. Council members asked staff to review the vendor’s data and to explore legal and operational details, including required city‑school cooperative agreements, signage and the municipal share of fine revenue.
