{"id":222607,"date":"2026-04-07T22:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/222607\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T22:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:27:12","slug":"as-school-district-rolls-out-school-bus-stop-arm-cameras-dcps-police-chief-vows-to-avoid-miami-dade-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/222607\/","title":{"rendered":"As school district rolls out school bus stop-arm cameras, DCPS police chief vows to avoid Miami-Dade mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Duval County Public Schools is in the process of mounting cameras on roughly 900 school buses<\/a> to catch drivers who fail to stop when buses are loading and unloading students. The program is currently in a warning period throughout April, with citations set to go live in May.<\/p>\n

(Watch the full interview above.)<\/p>\n

The rollout comes as a Florida Tribune report raised red flags about a similar program in Miami-Dade County<\/a>. That program was suspended in April of last year after it was found to be issuing tickets to drivers incorrectly, reporting incorrect violation numbers, over-billing fines, and overwhelming police reviewers with more than 400 notices per day, according to the Florida Tribune. <\/p>\n

RELATED |\u2018Going that extra mile\u2019: Parents say DCPS adding stop-arm cameras to buses gives them peace of mind<\/a><\/p>\n

Jackson Short, Chief of Duval County Public Schools Police, joined News4JAX to address those concerns and explain how the district plans to avoid the same pitfalls.<\/p>\n

How the cameras work<\/p>\n

The cameras use artificial intelligence to flag drivers who do not stop for a deployed stop arm and red lights. But technology is only the first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext goes to the vendor company, which is Bus Patrol<\/a> in our case,\u201d Short said. \u201cAnd then it comes to us, to the school police department, where we have police officers that are going to review the citations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officers reviewing flagged incidents will have access to live camera feeds, still photographs, vehicle images, license plate captures and time-stamped records of when the stop arm deployed and when the red lights were activated \u2014 all from multiple angles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guidance that I\u2019ve given them is, if you\u2019re not sure, don\u2019t issue the citation,\u201d Short said. \u201cIt should be very obvious that the driver did violate the law and that\u2019s the only time that we\u2019re going to issue the citation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who is required to stop \u2014 and who isn\u2019t<\/p>\n

Under Florida law, drivers must stop for any school bus that has deployed its red lights and stop arm. There are limited exceptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrivers need to stop with the exception of if there\u2019s a raised median, a divided highway or at least five feet of median separating the traffic in the opposite direction,\u201d Short said.<\/p>\n

A raised median is one that is physically elevated \u2014 often with a curb. A flat grass median only qualifies for the exemption if it is at least 5 feet wide. When in doubt, Short said, drivers should simply stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen in doubt, pay attention to other drivers around you, if you\u2019re not sure, stop, and just be cognizant of our students,\u201d Short said. \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to write tickets. We\u2019re not expecting to make any money. Our goal is to be so successful at this program that we don\u2019t need it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contesting a citation<\/p>\n

Drivers who are ticketed will receive the same evidence packets reviewed by officers \u2014 including photos of their vehicle, license plate and a record of the violation. The fine is $225 and carries no points on a driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

If someone other than the registered owner was driving, there are mechanisms to transfer responsibility of the citation to that driver.<\/p>\n

Drivers who believe a ticket was issued in error can request a hearing through Florida\u2019s Department of Administrative Hearings, a government entity that already handles bus camera reviews for other counties in Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the important piece \u2014 that drivers do have the opportunity to contest the citation if they believe it was issued in error,\u201d Short said.<\/p>\n

This administrative hearing process was notably absent in Miami-Dade County\u2019s program \u2014 one of the key criticisms identified in the Florida Tribune\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n

Staffing up to prevent Miami-Dade\u2019s mistakes<\/p>\n

The district is starting with two officers to review violations during the April warning period. The program goes live in May, but a summer break will follow shortly after, giving the district time to assess data and adjust staffing as needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat summer break is going to give us a chance to analyze the data and see what type of violations we\u2019re getting and we can adjust our staffing if needed,\u201d Short said.<\/p>\n

As for the over-billing issues seen in Miami-Dade, Short said the citation amount is fixed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe citation, it is what it is. It\u2019s $225,\u201d Short said. \u201cWith any new technology and any new state law, there were some growing pains, and unfortunately Miami-Dade got in early on it and they experienced those growing pains in real time and had to take a pause on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Duval County Public Schools is in the process of mounting cameras on roughly 900 school…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[97239,100800,116,118,117,7281,15934,55162],"class_list":{"0":"post-222607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-10am","9":"tag-florida-tributary","10":"tag-jacksonville","11":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","12":"tag-jacksonville-news","13":"tag-school-bus","14":"tag-school-bus-cameras","15":"tag-school-bus-safety"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}