Richmond County Board of Supervisors approved the use of two new camera systems—Flock license plate readers and Blue Line school zone speed enforcement.

At the April board meeting, supervisors discussed details surrounding both systems, including questions about privacy, oversight, and enforcement standards before giving approval to move forward.

The Flock camera system, which the board also discussed in March, will be installed on county owned property near the soccer fields by the technical center. The system is designed to capture license plate information from vehicles traveling along the main thoroughfare to assist law enforcement investigations.

Supervisor David Parr raised concerns about the camera’s proximity to areas heavily used by students, including the soccer fields and track facilities. He questioned whether the cameras could pivot, tilt, or otherwise be manipulated to monitor children and athletic activities if the system were ever hacked.

County Administrator Hope Mothershead confirmed the cameras are fixed position devices that cannot move. The units will remain directed toward the roadway solely for the purpose of reading license plates and are not capable of monitoring activity on the fields.

Mothershead also addressed concerns raised by Sheriff Stephan Smith about how notifications are generated. She said they determined that alerts can be delivered through email or text message, eliminating concerns that all notifications would need to flow through county dispatch operations.

School Zone Cameras

Mothershead said Blue Line worked with Sheriff Smith to conduct a traffic study to determine whether the revenue would make installation worthwhile. The study near Route 3 and the high school identified roughly 7,000 speeding violations in a single week.

“So plenty of people are blowing through the school zones,” she said. The results were “definitely shocking,” she added.

The cameras are only supposed to operate when school zone warning lights are flashing. And drivers should not receive citations unless they are traveling at least 11 miles per hour above the posted school zone speed limit.

Under the five year agreement, the county will not pay for equipment but will be charged if it chooses to stop using the system before the contract ends.

Mothershead said Blue Line Solutions will handle citation processing and payment collection, while the Sheriff’s Office will review and approve violations before summonses are issued. The company will retain $25 from each $100 citation. Currently, the remaining funds would go to the county, but Sheriff Smith said that after June, new legislation requires a portion to be split with VDOT.

Based on the discussion, warning periods, signage, and public notices will be used to notify the public that these cameras are going into use before citations are formally issued.