Manatee County to End School Zone Speed Camera Program

BRADENTON — The Manatee County Commission has decided to reverse course on the previously approved contract for speed cameras in county school zones. After an action last month that scaled back the times of day that the cameras would capture speed violators for issuing fines, commissioners have now nixed the program altogether.

Last month, the commission unanimously approved amended provisions of the ordinance that enacted the program. Those changes adjusted the cameras' operating hours to record speed violations only when students would be entering or departing school—30 minutes before and 30 minutes after the start and end of the school day. The amended change also meant that the camera speed program would only issue automatic citations when school zone yellow lights were actively flashing, alerting drivers to the required speed decrease.

The camera program, contracted with a private vendor, RedSpeed, has faced criticism from county commissioners and residents alike over a perceived lack of transparency as to when the cameras would be active.

A motion made by Commissioner Bob McCann on Tuesday requested board support to stop the use of the cameras and all citations made with the automatic capture of violators by March 6 at midnight. In addition, McCann’s motion also sought to terminate the contract with RedSpeed.

The ordinance that was approved implementing the speed camera program will return to commissioners during a future meeting to be rescinded entirely. 

Echoing previously expressed sentiments of some commissioners and residents, McCann referred to the cameras as a “money grab” while explaining the basis for his motion on Tuesday.

Despite McCann's position, two commissioners expressed some hesitation in halting the program, citing the more than 55,000 citations that had already been issued by the camera program since its inception.

The cameras are only triggered when a driver is going in excess of 10 mph over the posted school zone speed limit. A speed violation resulted in a $100 fine with about 20% of those proceeds going directly to RedSpeed and the remainder of the fees collected going toward several county public safety or law enforcement initiatives.

The termination of the contract with RedSpeed was approved 5-2, with Commissioners Tal Siddique and Mike Rahn voting against the action.

Commission Chair George Kruse reminded members of the public before he cast his vote in support of ending the program, saying that speeding in a school zone is still illegal and will still result in increased fines. 

Kruse is the only currently sitting commissioner who served on the board in 2024 when the program and contract with RedSpeed were first approved. Kruse was the only commissioner to vote against the measure at that time.

Though the county—through the direction of the BOCC—will be ending its use of RedSpeed cameras at school zones within its jurisdiction, the decision by commissioners on Tuesday does not end any city’s use of RedSpeed cameras.

As of this reporting, the City of Bradenton and the City of Holmes Beach utilize school zone speed cameras, and those will continue to issue citations for speed violations that occur at county district school zones located within the cities' jurisdictions.