Residents ask council to halt speed-camera citations, cite malfunctioning lights and slow appeals process

Several residents used the public-comment period to complain about speed-camera enforcement and to ask council to suspend citations until technical and procedural issues were resolved.

Wanda Stallings (Third District) said speed cameras had produced “over 40,000 citations” and questioned how many of those were legally issued when, she said, “the cameras, the lights were not working.” Stallings said she filed a FOIA request and believed cameras on Chamberlayne Avenue and Laburnum Avenue were not showing illuminated warnings during May 2025; she urged council to “cease and desist” issuing those citations until the lights were visible and the appeal process could be handled in a timely way.

Stallings also told council she had struggled to get an appeal date and that a single officer was responsible for handling the appeal backlog, calling the delays unfair to motorists who simply paid mailed fines without realizing they might have defenses or technical grounds to contest citations.

Separate speakers asked for traffic-calming measures in residential neighborhoods. Kimberly Fagan, who lives near German School Road and Dieter, described repeated speeding, vehicle stunts and loud noisy behavior near a preschool across the street and requested “speed strips, cameras or speed humps” or at minimum additional stop signage to protect children and residents.

Council did not take immediate action during the meeting but staff and council members heard the complaints and noted requests for staff follow-up regarding both camera maintenance/visibility and neighborhood traffic-calming options.