DERBY – Officials are considering joining the increasing number of cities that are using cameras to crackdown on speeding motorists.
Derby Finance Director Brian Hall talked about a speed camera program March 26 with members of the Derby Finance and Public Safety Committee, which is a subcommittee of the Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen.
Hall said he and Mayor Joseph DiMartino were approached about the program by Derby Police Department Deputy Chief Brian Grogan. The department gave Hall statistics showing state roads where speeding is a major problem. Perhaps not surprisingly, speeding is an issue on state Route 34, a road that connects Interstate 84 in Newtown to Interstate 95 in New Haven.
Route 34 is known locally as Roosevelt Drive in west Derby, Main Street in downtown Derby, and as New Haven Avenue in east Derby.
Readers can watch the discussion by clicking the play button below. The article continues after the video embed.
The data shows the speed limit is 30 mph on New Haven Avenue and Gilbert Street. About 17,000 vehicles travel north on the road per day. Of those, about 34 percent are exceeding the speed limit by at least 10 mph, with 758 motorists speeding along at 50 mph and up.
About 19,000 vehicles a day head in the opposite direction on New Haven Avenue at Gilbert. Of those 19,000 vehicles, about 50 percent are going over the speed limit by at least 10 mph, the data shows.
According to state law, the speed cam program can only go where speeding is a demonstrable problem, which the Derby data shows.
The images below show speed data that was shared with the subcommittee March 26.
Read the complete data and presentation here.
The program described by Hall sounded like the school bus camera program the city and the school district are also thinking about implementing.
In both cases, hi-tech third party private companies install the hardware and software at no cost to the city. The companies make money by taking a cut of the fines collected. State government has made both programs legal.
Fines are usually $50 for the first offense and $75 for repeat offenders, according to various media reporting on the speed cam programs.
Before tickets are issued, a police department official would review the data to make sure the ticket was valid.
The speed camera programs are strong revenue generators for municipalities. The CT Mirror reported Middletown collected $1.8 million in fines between July and December of 2025. The News-Times of Danbury reported the Town of Washington issued $334,725 in fines between May and July of 2025.
The Aldermanic subcommittee reviewed material from DACRA, a tech company that would install the cams. The reporting shows the company keeps about $13 of each ticket issued.
Before Derby moves forward, the city’s corporation counsel has to write an ordinance allowing the program to start in the city. That resolution has to be vetted by the subcommittee and voted upon by the full Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen.
A public hearing would also have to be scheduled.
When that could happen remains to be seen. The subcommittee tabled the issue, saying they wanted more time to review the documents provided before making a recommendation to the full Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen.