County school zone speed enforcement cameras go live on May 26 at Chiles and Wiles Elementary Schools
Release from Alachua County Sheriff’s Office
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alachua County’s school zone speed enforcement camera program will begin issuing citations on May 26, when the 30-day warning period ends.
The cameras are at Chiles Elementary and Wiles Elementary, and they are located on SW 24th Avenue (one each in the eastbound and westbound directions) and on SW 75th Street (one each in the northbound and southbound directions).
Beginning on May 26, anyone driving 11 mph or more over the posted school zone speed limit while the zone is active will receive a $100 administrative fine by mail. This is not a Uniform Traffic Citation, does not affect your driving record, does not place points on your license, and is not reported to your insurance company. It is administrative in nature, with a punitive reminder that school zone speed limits exist to protect children.
Questions and answers from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 C𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲.”
Answer: FALSE
The cameras and all related program costs are funded entirely by those who violate the school zone speed limit and receive citations.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all law enforcement expenses could be funded solely by those breaking the law? We don’t believe citizens who obey school zone speed limits and help keep children safe should bear the financial burden of this program.
Here is the statutory breakdown, pursuant to Florida Statute 316.1896, showing where every dollar goes:
- $20 — Remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund.
- $60 — Retained by the county or municipality to administer speed detection systems and other public safety initiatives.
- $3 — Remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Department of Law Enforcement Criminal Justice Standards and Training Trust Fund.
- $12 — Remitted to the local school district for school security initiatives, student transportation, or improving student walking safety conditions.
- $5 — Retained by the county or municipality for the School Crossing Guard Recruitment and Retention Program.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬.”
Answer: FALSE
These camera systems do not continuously record every vehicle traveling through a school zone, nor do they function as automated license plate readers (ALPRs) for all passing vehicles.
The system first detects a speeding violation. That violation triggers the camera to activate, capturing a three-second video and four photographs. Tag information is collected only for the purpose of issuing a citation.
We do not have the ability to remotely access these cameras for live viewing of roadways. Data is retained only until the citation process is resolved and is then purged. No information is sold or transferred to third-party entities.
“𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧.”
Answer: FALSE
Recipients have 30 days from the issuance date to pay the civil penalty. If unpaid, we have elected to provide an additional 15-day grace period before converting the violation into a Florida Uniform Traffic Citation.
Once converted, additional penalties may apply, including points against your driver’s license, potential reporting to your insurance company, and increased fines.
“𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞.”
Answer: FALSE
Similar to toll violations, school zone speed citations are issued to the registered owner of the vehicle, as outlined in Florida law.
If you were not operating the vehicle at the time of the violation, you may complete a Civil Violation Non-Operation Affidavit identifying the driver responsible, allowing the citation to be transferred appropriately.
“𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬?”
Answer: A Deputy Sheriff’s salary is funded by taxpayers. Beyond the added financial burden on citizens, a citation issued directly by a Deputy Sheriff for a comparable speeding violation would often be significantly more expensive, could impact your driving record, result in points, and potentially affect insurance rates.
Deputies also cannot be present in every school zone, every day. School zone speed enforcement cameras provide consistent enforcement intended to encourage safer driving behaviors where children are present.
We know there are likely additional questions we haven’t covered. For more information, please visit our FAQ page.
Our message is simple:
𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬.
The goal isn’t writing citations. The goal is changing driving behavior before a child pays the price.
Blanket technocratic surveillance under the guise of student safety. Supporting measures like this is extremely short sighted. I hope more citizens catch on before it’s too late!
They are trying to use “children’s safety” as a wedge to implement the surveillance state they want.
If county and city government truly cared about children’s safety, they would stop importing criminal homeless junkies to our area. They won’t, because they don’t give a damn.
What happens after the school zone is over, are the cameras still operational and citations issued 24/7?
It is vastly unethical to force someone to pay a ticket who you can not prove was the person driving the car.
A cop has to prove this. The camera does not.
Ok. We have the technology…
why are their still panhandlers in the medians at 39th street & Waldo road? It’s a public safety hazzard…
is that considered jay walking too if they’re in the medians or on the side of the road, etc.?
some guy got run over 3 times on Archer Road and killed the other day supposedly out of gas with a can at 4:30am in the morning.. there was an article in the AC…
the panhandlers should get a civil citation sent to their mailing address, blah, blah, blah…
I’m sure law enforcement’s drones can find illegal encampments around
Grace Marketplace and the woods to help prevent forest fires 🔥 the unhoused and illegal aliens 👽 may be starting when they toss their cigarettes 🚬 butts during the 🔥🚫 we are having in Alachua county…
It’s dangerous to be panhandling in the middle of busy intersections…
maybe it’s time to taze them bro with a cattle prod so they get the message..
Just in time for the end of the school year. But the courts are ruling against a lot of these.
Exactly. I recommend everyone who is ticketed fight it out of principle. The number of surveillance cameras around here is insane. Also, don’t speed in school zones.
“Hi, I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Right now, normal citizens follow school zone speed limits closely. I know because I drive through them every morning. There’s probably schools out there with faster traffic due to the government’s poor planning and inadequate signage.
With the switchover, people can now drive 10 miles an hour over the speed limit without being ticketed. So we were supposed to drive 20mph for safety, but now 30mph is okay–this is somehow going to make school zones safer? Sounds like a load of BS to me.
“While the zone is active” is another dishonest part. The zones are going to be active long after school arrival is over, and this is where the local government is going to make their money. They hope.
It’s a cash grab, and anyone who says otherwise has no integrity. This county bends over backwards to avoid punishing criminals, so the fact that they are suddenly willing to dole out fines tells you all you need to know–another tax on the working people to redistribute to the imported homeless menace.
I don’t want people speeding through school zones, but I don’t want my kids growing up under a government surveillance state either. The latter is far more dangerous. I’ll be hoping to read about these cameras being chopped down, blacked out, or otherwise disabled like they are in Europe. Either way I’ll continue driving the speed limit–the vultures in county gov’t won’t get an extra crumb from me.
People are funny. If you’re using a mobile device you’re being surveilled far more than you will be by a school zone camera.
Horrible straw man argument, but that’s what you specialize in!
Denying it doesn’t make it go away.
Ignorance is bliss though.
What am I denying? You are comparing a personal choice with a government mandate. Most people do not want to be surveilled by public-private-partnership AI camera surveillance systems all over their city and county. Why are you so obsessed with pimping data centers and government surveillance…you’re getting very creepy
You’re not looking like the brightest crayon when you’re terrified of ‘government surveillance’ by a traffic camera when you’re carrying a pocket computer in your pocket that listens to your conversations, tracks your location, and sees your browsing habits to sell you a purse.
The only thing creepy is your logic for one while arguing against the other.
That’s ’bout all needs to be said about that.
Sheriffs office states 60% of ticket revenues go to county or city.
“$60 — Retained by the county or municipality to administer speed detection systems and other public safety initiatives.”
Although technically accurate, they conveniently omit the fact that the AI surveillance company takes their cut out of the county’s pot of money. Ultimately the county doesn’t retain anywhere near $60 (or 60%) of the ticket revenue. Why not publish this contractual information as well???? This is very disingenuous and they damn sure know it.
I despise these bureaucrats
“The cameras and all related program costs are funded entirely by those who violate the school zone speed limit and receive citations.”
And who paid the installation costs and how much was it? What if there aren’t enough tickets to even recoup that money at +11mph over? What if the courts strike you down? So many unanswered questions. But government doesn’t give a F. They only self-serve
I recall in similar schemes, the surveillance company (usually out of state) gets to pocket the first $25-30k before the local government sees a dime.
So our traitorous local government allows a corporation, not even a Florida one most of the time and certainly not in the county, to steal $250-$500k a year from the working class people in our community.
Why can’t we just hire more police officers, or better yet get rid of the imported homeless criminals so that our existing police and emergency services don’t spend half their resources running out to GRACE Marketplace every day?
The cameras are useless on unregistered vehicle owners/drivers — a more common issue in the SWAG corridor there. 🤡👹👿💩👺
We live directly in this area and I’m seeing a dramatic decrease in speeding bubbas and text distracted soccer moms. This was well worth it…to the tin foil hat conspiracy theorists I say this: If you aren’t doing something wrong a camera shouldn’t bother you. It is part of life. Live with it.