Alexandria police to refund, dismiss tickets after speed camera error
Alexandria police to refund, dismiss tickets after speed camera error
Jurisdictions across the region have been adding more school zone speed cameras to keep students safe, but Alexandria police are reversing several citations after discovering one camera issued tickets in error.
ARLINGTON, Va. - Jurisdictions across the region have been adding more school zone speed cameras to keep students safe, but Alexandria police are reversing several citations after discovering one camera issued tickets in error.
The department says the camera, an eastbound school zone device on Seminary Road outside Francis C. Hammond Middle School, was triggered by a programming issue and issued citations when it wasn’t supposed to.
Police say 115 tickets from that camera are being dismissed, and any paid citations are being automatically refunded. Drivers do not need to take any action.
School zone cameras are only meant to operate when the flashing lights are active during arrival and dismissal times. Police learned this camera issued citations outside its enforcement period between Aug. 18 of last year and Feb. 26.
Police did not say how many total tickets were issued during that span. City data from October 2023 to March 2024 shows 5,914 citations from the westbound camera outside Hammond Middle School and 6,977 from the eastbound camera, the same device involved in the recent programming error.
The department says an audit found no issues with the city’s other 11 school zone cameras. Officials plan to add independent verification, regular audits and written confirmation of schedule changes to prevent similar problems.
Alexandria police to refund, dismiss tickets after speed camera error
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Alexandria Police Department.