Beyond the Blame Game: The Real Reason Vermont's Highway Cameras Are on Hold

A major obstacle to implementing the program is the Legislature’s requirement that a law enforcement officer review the camera images and issue the civil violations.

Sep 09, 2025

A plan to protect Vermont’s highway workers with automated speed enforcement cameras, signed into law last year, is currently in limbo, leaving road crews feeling unprotected and lawmakers frustrated. While recent reporting has highlighted the finger-pointing between the Governor’s administration and the Legislature, a deeper look reveals the delay is rooted in a specific legal requirement, critical staffing shortages, and a fundamental debate over the role of police. Understanding these overlooked details is key to seeing the full picture.

A Tale of Two Timelines: The Law vs. Reality

On paper, the plan was clear. Act 135, passed in May 2024, established a 15-month pilot program for automated speed enforcement in a few highway work zones. A public awareness campaign was supposed to begin on April 1, 2025, with cameras activating on July 1. For workers like Kellen Cloud of Green Mountain Flagging, who told reporters his job has become noticeably more dangerous in recent years, this technology represented a long-overdue layer of protection.

But those deadlines have passed with no cameras in sight. The Scott administration has stated it cannot implement the program as written, leading to sharp criticism from legislators like Rep. Phil Pouech, who accused officials of "sitting on their hands" after the governor himself signed the bill into law. This has created a narrative of simple government inaction, but the core of the problem lies within the text of the law itself.

The Core of the Conflict: A Single Line in the Law

Often lost in the public debate is the most significant obstacle to the program: the law explicitly requires a sworn "law enforcement officer" to personally review the images captured by the camera and issue the civil violation.

This is not an administrative choice or a procedural preference by the administration; it is a legal mandate passed by the Legislature. The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) cannot legally hire civilian administrative staff or authorize the private camera vendor to conduct the reviews and mail the citations. The law demands a police officer's involvement, turning what could be an administrative task into a law enforcement one. This single requirement is the primary reason for the entire stalemate.

An Equation of Scarcity: Not Enough Officers for the Job

With the law requiring police involvement, the question immediately became: which police?

Officials with the Department of Public Safety have been adamant that the Vermont State Police (VSP) cannot take on the task. According to Col. Matthew Birmingham, the VSP director, the agency is facing a critical staffing shortage, with a vacancy rate of around 17%. He testified that pulling troopers from their duties of responding to violent crime, DUIs, and other dangerous situations to have them sit at a desk and review photos of license plates would be a serious misallocation of scarce resources.

Some have suggested using the Department of Motor Vehicles Enforcement and Safety Division, whose officers are also certified police. However, according to Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn, this is also not a viable solution. The "DMV Police" is a small, specialized force of about 30 officers statewide. Their primary duties are in the field, inspecting commercial vehicles and assisting other police agencies. Taking even one or two of them off the road for desk duty would significantly impact their core mission.

Debating the Details: How Long Does a Review Really Take?

A key point of contention has been the amount of time it would take an officer to process each violation. Lawmakers have pointed to states like Pennsylvania, where state police reportedly process violations in about three minutes. The company that makes the cameras suggested it could be done in under 90 seconds.

However, Vermont officials estimated it could take seven to eight minutes per violation. While this figure has been criticized as an exaggeration, it includes a crucial step that is often overlooked: a federally mandated database check.

According to the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), active-duty military personnel are granted certain legal protections, including the ability to delay payment or court proceedings for civil infractions like a speeding ticket. To comply with this federal law, the officer in Vermont would have to cross-reference the vehicle owner's information with a national military database for every single potential violation. This adds a concrete, time-consuming step to the process that is not optional, helping to explain the administration's higher time estimate.

The Unspoken Compromise: Why Police Review Was Required in the First Place

The question remains: why would the Legislature write a law with a requirement that the state's police force says it cannot fulfill? The answer likely lies in the broader debate around automated surveillance.

Across the country, the use of traffic cameras is often met with pushback from civil liberties advocates who raise valid concerns about privacy, government tracking, and the potential for error. Organizations like the ACLU have historically been skeptical of automated license plate reader technology.

Requiring a human police officer to review every violation and personally affirm the citation is a common compromise used to get such laws passed. It acts as a safeguard, ensuring that a citizen is not fined solely by a machine. This provision was likely included in Vermont's law not as an oversight, but as an intentional check on the technology to satisfy privacy concerns and build a consensus for the bill's passage.

A Path Forward?

The result is a legislative and logistical impasse. A law designed with a built-in safeguard has been rendered unworkable by the very real staffing crisis facing Vermont law enforcement.

Transportation Secretary Flynn has stated that the administration is committed to the program's goal and is working on new language to bring to the Legislature when it reconvenes in January 2026. A potential solution could be an amendment to the law that allows specially trained civilian employees, rather than sworn police officers, to conduct the reviews and issue the civil citations.

While the delay is a source of valid frustration for highway workers who continue to face danger on the job, the reasons for it are more complex than have been widely reported. The issue is not just about bureaucratic delay, but a collision between a law's specific requirements, the practical limits of state resources, and the compromises made to balance public safety with civil liberties.