Livingston parks ‘speed van’

• By DEBRA LEMOINE
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Jul 10, 2009

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LIVINGSTON — The Livingston Parish Council voted Thursday night to park the so-called “speed van” program for two more weeks.

The council also gave its attorney permission to look into its contract with Redflex Traffic Systems, of Phoenix, and advise what can be done, such as whether the program can continue without the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office involvement.

Redflex runs the so-called “speed van” program for the parish, using an unmanned sport-utility vehicle that records the speed of passing vehicles and uses the video images to collect civil speeding fines.

The Sheriff’s Office ended its participation in the program last week among concerns about the implementation of the program, including the towing of the Redflex vehicle from private property.

The contract is between the Parish Council and Redflex, so the fate of the program is in the council’s hands.

“We don’t know what kind of policy we have until we look at it,” Councilman Don Wheat said.

In a Redflex committee meeting before the regular Parish Council meeting, Wheat told representatives from Redflex he would ask for a two-week delay to give attorneys from the parish and Redflex time to talk about the issues.

“It’s a good idea to stand down, so we can talk to them and they can talk to us,” said Bill Jarman, a Baton Rouge attorney representing Redflex.

In other business, the Parish Council unanimously voted to allow the Sheriff’s Office to move into the space in the courthouse where the parish assessor was once housed.

The Assessor’s Office moved last month to Magnolia Street in Livingston.

The Sheriff’s Office Criminal Division will move into the space, Chief Criminal Deputy Jason Ard said.