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Milton police urge school‑zone speed study; council broadly supports vendor feasibility review
Summary
Milton’s police chief described school‑zone photo enforcement options and urged the council to authorize vendor speed studies to quantify violations; the chief said vendors could install and operate systems at no cost to the city and Milton officers would review violations. Public comments raised privacy and revenue concerns; council reached a consensus to pursue the study.
Jennifer Frank (Milton Police Department, addressed in the meeting as 'chief') briefed the mayor and council on school‑zone photo enforcement as a child‑safety measure and asked permission to pursue feasibility/speed studies with multiple vendors. Frank said the goal is to determine whether there are enough excessive violators during school hours to justify cameras and emphasized the study and initial vendor work can be arranged with no cost to the city for installation or maintenance in many vendor models.
Frank described operational safeguards: Milton officers would review each camera capture before any civil citation is issued and the city would operate a local appeals/magistrate process. She said vendors report large reductions in school‑zone speeding (vendors cited reductions of 95%–97% in other jurisdictions) and described a typical civil enforcement threshold—drivers recorded at 11 mph or more over the 20‑mph school limit during active school times could receive a civil citation.
Frank framed the proposal as safety‑driven, not revenue‑driven: "This is about safety. This is not about making money," she said. She also noted statutory authority under HB 657 (April 2023) and cited Florida Statute 316.183 (the chief offered copies of the statute as part of a future ordinance packet).
Public comment and council questions focused on privacy, oversight and optics: speakers worried about third‑party vendors doing their own studies and potential conflicts of interest, asked whether the systems could be limited to active school times and whether thresholds could be adjusted below 11 mph, and questioned whether cameras are as visible as officers with blue lights. Frank said vendors generally provide a warning period (30–90 days) and that she would ask vendors about adjustable thresholds and modular scheduling tied to school calendars.
Outcome: Council expressed a general consensus to pursue a vendor speed study and return results to the council before any ordinance, vendor selection or implementation decision. The work session did not include a formal ordinance vote.
