All the pieces are in place for Senatobia to begin cracking down on motorists operating vehicles without auto insurance.
City leaders unanimously agreed in March to enter a contract with Securix, a company that has established and operates Public Safety Companies in most states around the nation.
According to Securix representatives, the implementation of ANNIE (Automated National Non-Invasive Insurance Enforcement), a national program for automatic identification of uninsured vehicles, Senatobia police officers will be able to reliably identify in-state and out-of-state license plates of uninsured vehicles using strategically placed traffic cameras installed with Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) throughout the city.
ALPR checks the insurance status of every vehicle that passes by each camera, acting as an electronic roadblock of sorts.
Senatobia went live with six cameras around the city earlier this month, and six additional cameras will be added before the end of the year.
Once an uninsured vehicle is identified, the offense is first confirmed by a police officer. Images and license plate numbers are matched to a list of uninsured vehicles provided by the State of Mississippi, then verified online with insurers. A sworn law enforcement officer paid by Securix reviews each flagged license plate image to confirm accuracy before a citation is mailed.
A citation is sent to the address of the vehicle’s registered owner with a photo of their license plate, date/time, and GPS coordinates of the location where the offense occurred.
The citation gives the recipient three options:
• Provide proof on the net or at the Securix Help Desk of insurance at time of infraction
• Challenge in court on the date/time offered on the citation
• Commit to not reoffend and pay a reduced diversion program fee and complete a short online course. This assists the violator by avoiding big fines, court costs and attendance, and other penalties.
A citation for driving without insurance in Senatobia is $488 plus court costs.
ANNIE is completely violator funded and there is no cost for municipalities. The program generates substantial and previously untapped revenues to fund necessary court and law enforcement requirements.
ANNIE also provides a platform to increase public safety by assisting local law enforcement agencies during Amber alerts, search for stolen vehicles, and BOLO (Be On The Lookout) situations.
