Brookhaven’s first speed camera begins operations

Brookhaven, GA, Sept. 11, 2023 – In response to residents’ concerns, Brookhaven police are utilizing RedSpeed automated speed enforcement with a speed detection camera at 3110 Ashford Dunwoody Road in Brookhaven.

“We studied several school zones and found that speeding during school hours is an exceptional problem, threatening the safety of our most vulnerable pedestrians,” said Police Chief Brandon Gurley.  “I want to thank St. Martin’s Episcopal School for their cooperation and partnership as we begin this new initiative to curb excessive speeding during school hours.”

In 2019, Brookhaven conducted a study of traffic volume and speeders in school zones during school hours. In three school zones, more than 3,000 vehicles were found to be speeding at least 11 miles per hour over the speed limit in a single day.  Of these, 467 took place at St. Martin’s Episcopal School.

Through Oct. 5, only warnings will be issued. Beginning October 6, a sworn Brookhaven police officer will review every citation prior to issuance.  School zone fines will be set at $80 for the first violation and $130 for the second during the same calendar year.  In addition, real-time alerts will be integrated into Brookhaven’s existing License Plate Reader (LPR) platform to identify sex-offenders, protective orders, and wanted persons for increased safety in school zones.

Violations will only be registered on school days, during the times when classes are taking place. This includes one hour prior to the scheduled start of classes and one hour after classes have concluded.

The following activation times for the speed cameras and school zone flasher:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings:

Speed camera and school zone flasher activation: 7 – 8:30 a.m.

Reduced speed limit: 25 m.p.h.

Speed camera trigger: 36 m.p.h.

Wednesday mornings:

School zone flasher and speed camera activation: 8 – 9:15 a.m.

Reduced speed limit: 25 m.p.h.

Speed camera trigger: 36 m.p.h.

Afternoons (Mon-Fri),

School zone flasher and speed camera activation: 2:35 – 4 p.m.

Reduced speed limit: 25 m.p.h.

Speed camera trigger: 36 m.p.h.

Between the specified windows of reduced speeds, when school is actively in session, the speed limit will return to 40 m.p.h. However, the speed camera trigger will remain in effect at 51 m.p.h. during these intervals.  After 4 p.m., all speed camera enforcement will cease entirely.

“After this camera is fully established, we hope that we can expand this program to other schools in Brookhaven where speeding is a safety issue, like Cross Keys High School and Montgomery Elementary School,” said Gurley.

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