Garden City Hopes To Install Speed Cameras On Village Streets

The Village of Garden City wants to put up speed cameras in the village to help capture those who break the speed limit while allowing police officers to focus their time elsewhere.

The village is reaching out to its state government representatives to encourage them to vote yes on a bill that would allow the village to install temporary or permanent speed cameras within its borders. The Board of Trustees believes that taxpayer money is better spent by letting police deter and investigate more serious crimes.

"This is not about revenue generation," said Mayor Brian Daughney. "A successful speed camera system actually results in minimal revenue because people obey the traffic speed limits. This is about safety. We have heard our residents’ loud and clear complaints that there is too much speeding on village streets and we need to act. We cannot have a police officer on every street — or several police officers doing just speed traffic control every day for hours at a time. We believe cameras will effectively deter speeding in a cost-efficient manner."

The board is encouraging Sen. Kemp Hannon and Assemblyman Ed Ra to vote for the Home Rule law that will allow it to install the cameras. Those who wish to voice their opinions on the matter should contact the state representatives.

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