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NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez may soon be at the forefront of using new technology to deter drivers from speeding in school zones.

However, that technology may be used in other areas of the city where speeding is a public safety issue.

Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson introduced Joe Payne, a former Jackson police officer originally from Gulfport, and Bob Beverly. The two work for Intellisafe, a Mississippi company that has developed enforcement technology to control speeding.

Gibson said that computer monitoring in the school zones on Seargent S. Prentiss Drive over the past week has shown shocking results.

“We know we are having a problem with people speeding, especially at McLaurin Elementary School. We are doing our best to proactively address these concerns, but this may shock you,” he said.

The study showed that 95 percent of the drivers who traveled through the area during school zone loading and unloading times exceeded the 35-mile-per-hour speed limit. Further, Gibson said 38 percent of those drivers traveled 10 to 14 miles per hour over the speed limit, and 22 percent drove 15 to 44 miles over the limit.

“Natchez, we have a problem,” he said. “We have a school crossing guard who was injured there a couple of years ago. Gratefully, he recovered but is now retired. And this year, we are having trouble even finding anyone to be a crossing guard.

“We have got to get people in this city serious about obeying the speed limits and keeping our children safe,” Gibson said.

Payne said Intellisafe offers a “force multiplier system” that allows officers to issue citations in a school zone, which will be transmitted to the person receiving the citation via mail.

“It’s a little different than we have seen before, but it allows the one officer to use the time in a school zone to issue more citations than if he had to run someone down and pull them over. It also involves officer safety. It allows them not to be involved with standing in the middle of the road writing a ticket and talking to someone,” Payne said.

The officer would use a handheld, manual laser-guided radar device to record the speeding vehicle.

“The officer holds it in his hand, targets a car, and squeezes the trigger, which captures the video of the person speeding. It records that speed, it is uploaded to the cloud and presented back to the police department for approval of the ticket,” he said.

Once the person receives the ticket, they can call a representative in a call center.

“There is going to be, of course, the normal amount of ‘Wait a minute. What is this?’ to begin with,” Payne said. “We have personnel standing by to answer their questions and help them through the process.”

He said the technology is being offered to the city at no cost. Intellisafe generates revenue for its company by taking a portion of the speeding fine, which is set at $230. The City of Natchez will get $75 of that fine, the state will receive $25, and Intellisafe will receive the rest.

Those who receive one of the school zone speeding citations by mail will have an opportunity to pay the fine online or through an Intellisafe diversion program, which will keep the ticket off the driver’s record.

“If they choose not to adjudicate the ticket, we take them through the diversion process,” Payne said. “They pay the ticket online or by check in the mail, and they take a class about speeding, which includes a test you have to take and pass. At that point, the tick is not processed through the legal system. The fine is paid, and it is not adjudicated.”

He said the driver could also fight the ticket in court, at which point Intellisafe is no longer involved.

Ward 1 Alderman Valencia Hall asked if the technology could be used in city areas other than school zones. Payne said that because the ticket is issued by a police officer, it meets all of the Mississippi laws for a speeding ticket.

Ward 2 Alderman Billie Joe Frazier, a retired Natchez police officer, said the new technology is “badly needed in the City of Natchez. This is a deterrent we are looking at, and it’s an issue of public safety. This cutting-edge technology will modernize the police department and bring it up to date.

Payne said the technology is already in use in Hattiesburg, which has significantly reduced school zone speeding. He said the cities of Moss Point, Gautier, and Oxford will soon begin to use it.

“The idea of the system is to allow one officer to do the work of many officers,” he said.

Ward 6 Alderman Curtis Moroney said of all the complaints he receives from his constituents, “speeding by far leads the pack. These statistics are alarming, not only because of how many people are speeding but also because of how fast they are going.

“I hope that later on if we find this works well in school zones, I would like to see it implemented in other areas of the city. Our culture has changed. People don’t seem to have the same respect for others or law and order. This is something that is sorely needed,” Moroney said.

Ward 3 Alderwoman Sarah Carter Smith said she wants to ensure the system has the approval of Police Chief Caroline Green and Municipal Court Judge Christina Daugherty before proceeding.

Gibson said he also wants to make certain City Attorney Jack Lazarus has an opportunity to read any contract before aldermen are asked to approve it.