WINCHESTER — Recently implemented cameras issued 3,553 speeding citations to drivers in Winchester school zones between Feb. 26 and April 16, according to the Winchester Police Department.

The cameras were installed in the school zones of John Kerr Elementary School, James Wood Middle School and Daniel Morgan Middle School. The cameras are active on school days beginning one hour before schools start classes and ending an hour after dismissal.

From Feb. 12 to Feb. 16, warnings were given to offenders speeding in the school zones, according to City Communications Director Kit Redmer. Starting on Feb. 26, the cameras began issuing citations.

The fee for a citation is $100 and is issued to any driver who exceeds the 25 mph limit in the school zones by 10 mph.

The citations are issued by a third party organization called Ultimate, which receives data from the cameras and mails the tickets to the speeders.

According to Redmer, Ultimate sends data from the cameras to Winchester Police Lt. Rob Bower and his team to verify that an infraction has indeed occurred.

“Lt. Bower administratively review the tickets and approve them. They have a thorough system of checks where they’ll look at the the time of day and make sure and triangulate that with the times that schools were open that day,” he said. “They run these checks to make sure the citations were properly issued and there weren’t any errors.”

The cameras are just one component of Winchester’s Roadway Safety Initiative, which was approved by City Council in November of 2023, and is aimed at improving driver, biker and pedestrian safety in the city.

In March, the city began installing 45 raised crosswalks throughout Winchester as another measure to curb speeding. The city also plans to install cameras on school bus stop arms to ensure the safety of students boarding or leaving the bus.

Additionally, Winchester Police Department Chief Amanda Behan has been doing analysis on which streets in the city experience the highest rate of speeders, according to Redmer.

In November, City Council voted unanimously to lower the speed limit on a number of Winchester streets, including a portion of Middle Road in the southwest part of the city.

Winchester police have also started a campaign to warn of the dangers of distracted driving, as a part of the city’s initiative.

“If all of these actions work we should see accident numbers go down,” Redmer said.

He said the city will be closely monitoring the measures to ensure they serve their intended purposes.

“We want to make sure all of these things are effective and that they are a means to an end, which is to keep our residents safe,” he said.