<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2Z1TXZ_1H1f4NXa00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2Z1TXZ_1H1f4NXa00" width="1280" height="720" ><figcaption>(Foreground, left to right) Aldermen Jaylen Daniels and Tyler Kennedy at a Nov. 10 meeting of the Board of Aldermen.</figcaption></figure>ANSONIA – Members of the Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a proposal from police to install speed cameras at two locations on Pershing Drive and Ford Street.At a meeting following a public hearing Nov. 10, members of the board approved a plan from the police department which now goes to a state board for review. Ansonia Police Chief Wayne Williams said the speed cameras could be installed by early spring.At the public hearing, four members of the public spoke and asked questions about the program, including whether the cameras will identify drivers and where money generated by the program goes. Williams responded to those questions in comments before the Aldermen’s vote.The police department is contracting with DACRA to install and operate the cameras. Officials in Derby have also been talking with that company.The cameras detect violations whenever a driver is captured traveling 10 miles per hour or more above the posted speed limit.The police department will need to give the public 30 days’ notice before the cameras become operational, according to Williams. After that, there will be another 30-day period where drivers receive written warnings for violations.After both of those periods, drivers caught violating the speed limit will receive $50 fines for a first-time offense and $75 for any offense afterward. Williams said there will also be a $15 fee which goes to the vendor operating the cameras.Speakers Ask Whether Program Is NeededCynthia Hebert, a resident of Johnson Street, asked a series of questions about whether the program is necessary.“I’d like to know why we need them, why do they need to be installed? Is the person or the company that installs them going to make a profit off of the money that you’re generating? What’s the money going to be used for? Why do we need to give up our Fourth Amendment for these cameras, and can anything else be done besides this?” Hebert asked.Williams, speaking after the hearing, said the cameras do not violate Fourth Amendment rights to privacy. He drew a distinction between speed cameras – which take photos only when drivers exceed the speed limit – and automated license plate readers (ALPRs) such as Flock cameras, which aim to collect information on every vehicle that passes by.“There is not a Fourth Amendment violation when it comes to speed cameras. That’s how I see it, and that’s how the courts have seen this so far. They are not ALPRs, they do not take pictures of individuals, they do not even identify the individual that’s in the car. We don’t look to identify. All we want to know is who the owner of the vehicle is,” Williams said.Williams said the money has to go either toward the speed camera program itself – such as paying the person hired to review detected violations – or to improve safety infrastructure including sidewalks and intersections.The company that installs the cameras is paid through a $15 fee added on top of speeding violation fines, Williams said.Lou Schwartz, of Hillside Avenue, asked whether the speed cameras also work as red-light cameras to send fines to people who run red lights. Williams said that they do not, and that the police department would need to come back and get new approvals if it wanted to install red-light cameras in town.Kyle Buchanan, of Johnson Street, asked how police plan to assess fines when the car is driven by someone other than the registered owner. Williams said the registered owner is responsible for paying the fines, even if they weren’t the one driving.Speed Camera LocationsIn the plan approved Nov. 10, Williams wrote the department would like to install cameras at two locations:<ul><li>On Pershing Drive, in between the intersections with Clifton and Division streets</li><li>On Ford Street near Mead Elementary School, in between Benz Street and Pond Drive</li></ul>You can see the approved locations in the photos below.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0Pv6ud_1H1f4NXa00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0Pv6ud_1H1f4NXa00" width="1020" height="1056" ></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0330jg_1H1f4NXa00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0330jg_1H1f4NXa00" width="1194" height="1034" ></figure>The stretch of Pershing Drive being considered connects Ansonia’s downtown to the business district along the Ansonia-Derby border. It also provides access to Route 8 in Derby.Williams wrote that the cameras are needed in part because of two recent, serious accidents– one which took the life of 27-year-old Adonis Lapuppet-Bligen, and one which injured five people after a Jeep struck three vehicles, struck a pole, and caught on fire.The Ford Street location being considered sits in a residential neighborhood in between three school facilities – Prendergast and Mead schools, as well as the Emmett O’Brien sports complex (the school itself is around the corner on Prindle Avenue). Williams wrote that installing cameras there would allow police to consistently enforce speed limits around the schools while requiring fewer resources.During the Aldermen meeting, Alderman Tyler Kennedy asked why Wakelee Avenue wasn’t selected for speed cameras. The street has been the site of high-profile incidents including a street takeover in 2025.However, Williams said that studies dating back to 2017 don’t back up a need for speed cameras in that area. He said that, on average, most drivers stay close to the speed limit.Speeding issues on Wakelee Avenue come from a smaller number of vehicles, according to Williams, and are better dealt with by deploying officers to the area.“Some of the high speed vehicles we see – where you’re talking one vehicle a day, or one vehicle every couple of days that travels at an excessive speed – that’s more of an enforcement thing. I will also remind you, when we’re talking about Wakelee Avenue, that that is the throughway for towns north of us for ambulances to get to Griffin Hospital,” Williams said.</div></body>

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ANSONIA – Members of the Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a proposal from police to install speed cameras at two locations on Pershing Drive and Ford Street. At a meeting following a public hearing Nov. 10, members of the board approved a plan from the police department which now goes to a state board for review. Ansonia Police Chief Wayne Williams said the speed cameras could be installed by early spring.

Ansonia Aldermen Approve Speed Cameras

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ANSONIA – Members of the Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a proposal from police to install speed cameras at two locations on Pershing Drive and Ford

Ansonia Aldermen Approve Speed Cameras

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