Shreveport councilman to propose pause on school zone speed camera program; residents displeased about speeding tickets

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - Shreveport City Councilman Jim Taliaferro says he plans on proposing a pause on the controversial school zone speed camera program.

Hundreds of complaints have been made to KSLA about the cameras reportedly issuing erroneous tickets. The Shreveport City Council will meet Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. for an administrative meeting.

Many have also complained about the $50 fee that must be paid to Blue Line Solutions, the Tennessee company that operates the cameras, to dispute a ticket.

The cameras were first installed in some school zones across Shreveport at the start of the 2022-23 school year. Not long after they were put up, many people reached out to KSLA claiming they’d been ticketed outside of posted school zone times, when the lights weren’t flashing in the school zones, and even on weekends and holidays when school was not in session. The cameras automatically issue tickets to those speeding in school zones, however, some say the cameras do not work well and have been issuing tickets to the wrong cars.

Speeding tickets in school zones, during times when the driver wasn’t even speeding is an issue many Shreveport residents say they’re facing.

Longtime Shreveport resident Willie Dobin says he’s lived in the area for over 30 years and never received a speeding ticket on Jewella Avenue until the cameras were installed. He’s received two speeding tickets from the cameras and believes they aren’t accurate.

“We don’t have hard earned money to just pay you because you decide to put a camera up in an area that’s going to issue out tickets to poor people. I think it’s unfair. I think it’s wrong,” Dobin said.

[RELATED>>> SPD says speeding down thanks to school zone cameras]

Edith Nelson, another Shreveport resident says she frequents the school zone on Jewella Avenue because she picks up here children from school each day. She’s received over 20 tickets from this school zone, ranging from $50 to $150 dollars per ticket. She says she never speeds through the area.

“I come through this area and still get a ticket; I don’t know if it’s this or this. I just know I’m getting a picture of my car in the mail,” Nelson said.

Nelson says she even gets tickets in this school zone on the weekends when school isn’t even in session.

“So, if you’re clocking me for going 42 on Jewella on a Sunday in this school zone, do you think that it’s because the camera thinks school is in session?”

As Taliaferro heard complaints from residence, he wants to pause all school zone speeding tickets until the city can reassess each camera.

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