OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY) -- The Opelousas City Council voted 4-2 to keep speed enforcement cameras in use after a meeting where the issue was heavily debated.

Council member Delita Broussard had proposed removing the cameras, presenting a petition with over 1,000 signatures in favor of their removal. Broussard argued that the city has enough officers to increase physical presence on the streets, which she believes is a more effective way to encourage safe driving.

"While I do not condone speeding, I believe there is a more effective way to encourage safe driving," Broussard said. "With 26 of 35 officers currently on patrol, we have the resources to increase our physical presence on streets."

Police Chief Graig LeBlanc spoke to all in attendance at the meeting to clarify why the cameras are useful, saying having the cameras in use gives more time for officers to patrol neighborhoods where crime is prevalent.

"We need all our police officers on the ground." LeBlanc said. "We have a violent crime problem that has to be addressed by particular patrols, by particular traffic enforcement, strategic to identify people who want to do harm to other people and sell narcotics. I put those cameras in place for a purpose."

Leblanc clarified the cameras do not cite a car for speeding unless they are going at least 12 miles over the speed limit.

"You can go down Landry Street and do 12 miles an hour over the speed limit, it's 25. You can do 38 miles an hour. How fast do we want to go in our Opelousas without consequences?" LeBlanc said.

LeBlanc said the money goes from citations, saying the police department receives 60%, giving 10% of that to the city court for juvenile issues. The other 40% goes to the company which supplies the cameras. 

After taking comments and questions from residents in attendance, the council ultimately voted on whether or not to remove the cameras. The vote resulted in a 4-2 decision to keep the cameras operational.

With the decision to keep the speed cameras, Opelousas will continue to utilize them as a tool for traffic enforcement while allowing police officers to focus on patrolling neighborhoods with higher crime rates.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KLFY. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KLFY staff before being published.

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