Santa Rosa County Commissioners this morning unanimously approved moving forward with amending ordinances to allow automated law enforcement of speeding in school zones, using cameras and citations issued by an automated process.
Navarre resident Larry Seal was one of several citizens who spoke in opposition, telling the board that he had been wrongfully ticketed by such an automated system in another area. “My name was the first on the title. I got the ticket,” he said, noting that to correct the situation he was asked to provide a sworn affadavit naming the person who was driving the vehicle at the time. Seal said he wasn’t in the vehicle and couldn’t swear to knowing who was driving. “I couldn’t swear under oath who it was.”
Gulf Breeze resident Brad Riley also spoke in opposition to what he described as a “revenue-generating enforcement scheme” which wasn’t brought up for public safety concerns but rather suggested to Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office by Blue Line Solutions, a vendor. “It’s a bad precedent,” said Riley, noting it places the burden of proving innocence on the vehicle owner. Riley also pointed out that the agenda included no supporting documentation detailing the related costs.
Major Doug Bringmans was tasked with speaking on behalf of SRSO. He noted the vendor would cover the cost of installation of the camera equipment.
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