Drivers on Fourth Street SW in Waverly may have seen the additions already: yellow diamond warning signs with an image of a traffic light and the words PHOTO ENFORCED.
Images are appearing on GPS maps of the area: drawings of cameras next to stoplights, some with the words “Red light camera ahead.â€
The signs have shown up. The digital warnings have shown up.
What’s not showing up are the cameras themselves.
According to Capt. Jason Leonard of the Waverly Police Department, a supply shortage has put a hold on the red light cameras.
The Waverly City Council approved the installation of the cameras in 2024. The equipment was expected to be installed and operational by the end of March this year.
That didn’t happen.
Three intersections on Fourth Street SW will eventually have the cameras: at Bremer Avenue, at Cedar River Parkway (by McDonald’s) and at the crossing between Walmart and KwikStar South.
“These are not the speeding cameras. They are the red light cameras,†said Waverly Chief of Police Richard Pursell in a Jan. 22 Waverly Newspapers article. “The congestion in these areas is bad. The intent of the program is to reduce accidents. They are particularly dangerous spots.â€
As noted in the Jan. 22 article, the city will not pay for the new technology because of an agreement with the company—a Florida-based firm called JenOptik—that will install, maintain and control the database of video and photos taken by the cameras.
According to the agreement, JenOptik will keep a portion of each $100 ticket that is issued.
Leonard estimates the cameras will be up and running in another 30-45 days, so, sometime in July.
Once the cameras are installed and operational, he said, he expects Chief Pursell to announce it.
Drivers will then have a 30-day grace period before red light violations are enforced.
“Once the cameras are operational and they start having violations and start logging violations,†Leonard said, “for at least 30 days there will be written warnings sent out to those registered owners of those vehicles.â€
As noted in the Jan. 22 article, after that grace period, any driver found to violate the state’s red light laws will receive a civil (not criminal) ticket for $100. Pursell said in January that a normal criminal citation for running a red light costs $210.25.
“It is a certified Waverly police officer that decides whether a ticket is issued or not,†he explained at the time. “People who get a ticket can contest it in one of two ways, via the courts or by coming in in person or sending an email or written letter contesting the ticket. There is still due process.â€
But first the cameras need to arrive and get up and running.
“We’re waiting on basically the entire unit,†Leonard said. “So, infrastructure’s there. The poles and everything like that. The cameras are not there yet. That’s what we’re still waiting for.â€
