PORTALES, N.M. – Two weeks ago today, Portales began its speed camera program, putting up four new speed cameras right next to two school zones. 

“In the school zone, specifically, we did because of the large number of pedestrians that are in the area, especially children. A few miles an hour getting struck by a vehicle could be the difference between, you know, an injury or a fatality,” said Portales Police Department Chief Christopher Williams.  

Although they haven’t been up for long and are still in a warning period, Williams says there have been over a thousand violations in the last two weeks. 

“It’s catching a lot of people, and hopefully, we’ll see these numbers start declining after people start receiving their warnings,” said Williams. 

Anyone caught going over the speed limit will receive a $100 fine. KOB 4 was told the warning period ends and fines start going out in two weeks. 

Williams says the speed cameras will help keep a much-needed extra eye on the roads, to slow people down, even if they think no one is looking. 

“Today, we’re not seeing the applicants that we were seeing for police officers 20 years ago. So not being able to get police officers hired, this puts the system there 24 hours a day, seven days a week to try to help slow people down,” Williams said.

He says the cost of having the system is a cost-neutral solution for them. The company only gets paid out of the fines that are collected.

“None of this is paid for out of general fund dollars or anything in the city’s budget,” said Williams.

He says that residents should not be surprised if they see more cameras across state highways that go through the town, especially in school zones. 

“We’ve seen a lot of questions asking when we’re going to get them put on the state highways through town. Because when we did the speed study, there’s another school zone that’s also on the state highway, and we had speeds documented up to 80+ miles an hour in the school zone,” said Williams.