{"id":55307,"date":"2025-11-21T10:14:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/55307\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T10:14:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:14:19","slug":"osceola-co-deputies-seek-clarity-on-speed-cameras-placement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/55307\/","title":{"rendered":"Osceola Co deputies seek clarity on speed cameras placement"},"content":{"rendered":"

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. \u2014\u00a0This year, 29,306 citations for speeding in school zones have been given out in Osceola County with the help of cameras designed to detect speeding in school zones. Though as of this week, Oceola County Sheriff\u2019s Office officials said there may be an issue about where these\u00a032-school zone speed enforcement cameras<\/a>\u00a0are placed.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

The Osceola County Sheriff\u2019s Office has temporarily stopped using cameras in school zones to detect speeding because of confusion over state statutory language
\n
Osceola County Sheriff\u2019s deputies are physically enforcing the speed limit in school zones until the confusion is resolved<\/p>\n

This year, 29,306 citations for speeding in school zones have been given out in Osceola County with the help of cameras designed to detect speeding in school zones<\/p>\n

Verra Mobility is the company that implemented the cameras<\/p>\n

The Florida Department of Transportation statute\u2019s language on where the speed cameras are placed is specifically what led Osceola County Sheriff Chris Blackmon and his agency to put a halt to using the school zone speed cameras until the confusion is cleared.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was brought to the actual sheriff\u2019s office attention last week about the placement of the cameras, whether or not they needed to be within the school zone, or they could be outside the schools as they\u2019re placed within Osceola County. There\u2019s 32 cameras placed here and across the county. They\u2019re all outside of the school zone,\u201d Osceola County Sheriff\u2019s Office Captain Kim Montes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seeked guidance from different entities to try and get a legal opinion on whether or not we can move forward or we need to take a pause because the clarification was not there last Thursday, the Sheriff decided, let\u2019s just pause on verifying any new violations,\u201d Montes said.<\/p>\n

The language of FDOT\u2019s School Zone Speed Detection System Placement and Installation Specifications, sections 4.6 and 4.7, states that the cameras \u201cshall be installed 100 feet prior to the furthest most upstream point of the existing S1-1 school zone warning sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their revised statute also said, \u201cin order to capture a photograph or video of the school zone flashing beacons to verify the speed limit in force at the time of violation, a supplemental device can be installed outside the school zone as a standalone structure or to be attached to the back of the Speed Limit Photo Enforced sign assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n

FDOT did not provide an interpretation of the language when requested for this story.<\/p>\n

Osceola County Sheriff\u2019s Office deputies were responsible for verifying that a violation occurred in order for the civil citation to be issued after the camera took an image of a car that was speeding. Verra Mobility is the company that implemented the cameras.<\/p>\n

In a statement, a spokesperson with Verra Mobility said, \u201cWe collaborated with Osceola County on camera locations and remain confident that the placement complies with statutory requirements, capturing violations that occur within the designated school zone. We respect the County\u2019s decision to temporarily pause enforcement and thoroughly review the matter; we will continue to work with the County during this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Osceola County Sheriff\u2019s deputies are physically enforcing the speed limit in school zones until the confusion is resolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we want people to understand why this is sorted out. Again, flashing lights have been in school areas for decades, and we all know what they mean. They need to slow down so that when kids are crossing, kids can be unpredictable, that it\u2019s the safety for the kids. That has not changed. That has not changed before these cameras were installed,\u201d Captain Montes said. \u201cRight now, while we\u2019re in this kind of limbo, it\u2019s not changed. You can still be issued a ticket for running too fast through these school zones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, it\u2019s just going to actually be done by a deputy,\u201d Montes said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. \u2014\u00a0This year, 29,306 citations for speeding in school zones have been given out in Osceola…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4996,1011,2967,274,113,1190,24498,139,141,140,1976,278,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-55307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-app-education","9":"tag-app-human-interest","10":"tag-app-public-safety","11":"tag-app-top-stories","12":"tag-education","13":"tag-human-interest","14":"tag-jordan-mead","15":"tag-orlando","16":"tag-orlando-headlines","17":"tag-orlando-news","18":"tag-osceola-county","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55307","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=55307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}