CPD and MCSO to boost school zone cameras by next school year
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — The Columbus Police Department (CPD) and the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) spoke at Tuesday’s city council meeting – updating local officials and the public on an ongoing safety effort when it comes to school zones.
Come the start of the 2024-2025 school year, citizens might notice shiny additions to school zones across Columbus. Local law enforcement agencies are continuing their mission to keep students and other pedestrians safe, by implementing cameras near public and private schools.
MCSO currently has two cameras installed near St. Luke School and Brookstone School. The sheriff’s office plans to install more cameras at a few other private schools.
I want to say that out of the 4,000 people that went through the school zones that we only had two repeat offenders. There’s almost a 95 to 96 percent chance that [a person who’s been cited once] will not do it again.
Greg Countryman, Muscogee County Sheriff
As for public schools, CPD is working with the Muscogee County School District (MCSD) on the Columbus Electronic School Zone Safety Program. Like the sheriff’s office, the police department’s goal is to slow down traffic and promote safety in school zones.
The issue of danger in school zones was magnified following a deadly hit-and-run crash in 2022, that claimed the life of a 13-year-old girl and left an 11-year-old boy seriously hurt.
Two juveniles hit by vehicle on Steam Mill Road, one has died
Unfortunately, I’ve seen things happen to children which makes this a serious issue to me. The number one goal is to protect the children.
Clyde Dent, Deputy Chief Bureau of Patrol Services, Columbus Police Department
UPDATE: Steam Mill Road Reconstruction
CPD intends to implement the program in stages, starting with 20 school zones before the start of the school year. After the first 90 days of operation, cameras will be added to an additional 10 school zones. After another 90 days, 10 more cameras will be added, for a total of 40 cameras.
Some of the things we took into consideration were speed studies. Those speed studies show where we had some of the bigger violations and the areas that need more attention. We looked at known areas that had speeding issues. We looked at areas with past injuries and fatalities of children. We also looked at some of the areas that we had students that were walking and we tried to also distribute these geographically throughout the city in an even manner.
Clyde Dent, Deputy Chief Bureau of Patrol Services, Columbus Police Department
Deputy Chief Clyde Dent with CPD says should a citizen be cited by one of their cameras, the first offense would be a $75 fine and any subsequent fine would be $125. There will be a 30 day warning period with warning citations mailed out before drivers are cited.
For more information on the Columbus Electronic School Zone Safety Program, view the slideshow below.
CPD and MCSD Agreed Upon Schools (No Particular Order))
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
