To increase the safety of county roadways, the Henry County Board of Commissioners approved a provisional services agreement between REDSPEED Georgia, LLC. and Henry County to install automated speed detection cameras in school zones. The action came at the scheduled Commission meeting.

  The installed cameras will enhance security by providing built-in license plate recognition as well as have the ability to remotely view the camera feed in real time. The cameras will also aid the Henry County Police Department in its mission to encourage voluntary speed compliance and enhance the safety of the county’s students, pedestrians and motorists.

  According to the resolution, the Henry County Police Department gave REDSPEED, a traffic enforcement system company, permission to conduct speed evaluations on five Henry County School clusters, including Hampton, Locust Grove, Luella, Ola and Stockbridge. In their findings, on one school day, more than 3,000 motorists were operating above the speed limit by 10 miles per hour.

  Henry County Police Major Vance Rosen explained to the Board that Henry County Board of Education is wanting to partner with the county and is excited about this initiative.

  “In meetings with the Board of Education, they are excited about partnering with us to again keep the safety of the students first and foremost in our minds,” said Rosen.

  During the meeting, a few Commissioners expressed their concerns about needing to notify students and parents about the program and educating them on the process and the rules of the road.

  Henry County Police Chief Mark Amerman assured the Commissioners and informed them that citizens of the county will know about this program.

  “There is going to be a huge drive to get all the information out to everybody. It is not going to be a shock. We will get the word out,” said Amerman.

  He also said that drivers who are caught speeding in those monitored school zones will only be cited while school is in operation.

  “The whole scope around this idea is only to do this while school is in session, to help protect our students,” said Amerman.

  The cameras will be installed and maintained at no cost to the county and will be managed by REDSPEED. Sixty-five percent of the funds collected from this program will go to HCPD’s public safety initiatives.   For more information on Henry County Police Department, log on to henrycountypolicedepartment.org.