Cameras set up to target speeders in Oberlin have been causing controversy, but Mayor Larry Alexander said the program is being paused until legal issues can be resolved.

“As of right now we have paused the program because the district attorney and sheriff have brought up concerns they had about the program,” Alexander said. “We want to make sure we try to address all those concerns and hopefully continue the program in the future.”

The town is also seeking a legal opinion from the Attorney General’s Office on the implementation of the program, he said.

Alexander said the town is following all the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development policies and procedures and state statutes in implementing the program to crack down on speeders, including posting signs warning drivers that there’s a camera being used.

Alexander hopes to resume the program after a legal opinion is received to help resolve the issues.

“We want to make sure we are following the enforcement to the letter of the law,” Alexander said. “We are not trying to break the law. As long as we get a positive attorney general’s option, we will take the program off pause and continue working with everything in place.”

Among the areas of concern is that the town has hired an out-of-town police officer in an unmarked police car to run a speed enforcement program using a radar gun and camera. The devices are designed to take a photo of a vehicle license plate if the driver is speeding, then a speeding ticket is sent to the vehicle’s owner.

Sheriff Doug Hebert III said he recently met with Alexander to voice his concerns for what he calls “gray areas” of the program.

“I expressed my concerns that things were not properly being done and needed to be fixed,” Hebert said. “There is a path that can be done legally and right now it is not being done legally.”

Many people feel the town should be relying on the Oberlin Police Department to operate the program, but Alexander says the police department does not want to run the program.

“We’d be happy if the police department did it, but we have been told they don’t want any part of the program,” Alexander said.

In a written statement to the American Press, Police Chief Grady Haynes said the mayor was advised through the District Attorney’s Office that the process was illegally set up and should be dismantled.

“That type (of) enforcements of public safety has to come from the police department’s chief and maintained by an officer of the Oberlin Police Department,” Haynes stated.

“I have all along stated that this particular method of enforcement is not adequate for a town the size of Oberlin.” Haynes continued.  “It targets mostly the citizens of your community and other employees that work in the town, also people coming in for business as we are the county seat of Allen Parish.”

Oberlin “has a speeding problem all over town,” according to Alexander.

He said a seven day speed study found an average of 600-800 vehicles per day going at least 10 miles per hour over the speed limit on U.S. 165. After a month of the program, the number of speeders has dropped to about 100 per day.

“So obviously it is working,” Alexander said.

Some residents who have received speeding tickets say they are not happy about it and do not plan to pay the fines. Fines can run from $200-$350.

Alexander said motorists who have received a ticket need to pay it online or at City Hall. The cost of the fines varies depending on how fast the person is going, he said.

If the program is found to be invalid, paid traffic fines will be reimbursed to the drivers, he said.

Alexander said the goal of the program is to eliminate speeding and to help the town financially, including providing matching funds for grants to improve roads and upgrade other infrastructures.

He said the program is based off similar speed enforcement programs operated throughout the state with all fees based on the standard cost of tickets within the town.

Haynes contends that police departments are not an institution to be used by a city or town as a source of revenue, which he says has been reiterated by every CPA at every annual budget meeting.

He also voiced concerns for mounting lawsuits.

“I will not take that chance of allowing that to happen to our town or put the Oberlin Police Department in that position,” Haynes said, adding that police departments have rules and guideline governed by the state that they must follow, including setting quotas for officers to write tickets and writing tickets for just a few miles over the posted speed limit. “…We cannot ignore community policing and citizen concerns to only focus on tickets for revenues.”