MONTICELLO – On Thursday, January 22, the Sullivan County Legislature voted unanimously to enact a local law allowing the utilization of stop-arm cameras on school buses to catch motorists in the act of failing to stop when presented with flashing red lights. 

The law was enacted by an 8-0 roll call vote with District 7 Legislator Joseph Perrello in absentia.

The Bus Patrol Program, as it’s called, has been highly effective in Orange County, according to former New York State Trooper Mike Belgiovene who works as an enforcement technician. By viewing videos captured from the stop-arm of a school bus, Belgiovene is able to write up to 10 tickets at once, instead of the old method: stopping one vehicle at a time after a violation is witnessed by an officer.

After presenting a video compilation of close calls between motorists and child pedestrians in Orange County, Belgiovene declared, “In Orange County last year in the 2024-2025 school year, we wrote just under 20,000 tickets in 14 school districts.”

“So it was 20,000 times that somebody endangered the life of a child?” inquired District 5 Legislator Cat Scott.

“Correct,” Belgiovene confirmed.

“I’ve seen it,” said District 2 Legislator and Chair Nadia Rajsz, “As I’m behind a bus, there are people passing me and the bus and the kids are in the street; it’s insanity.”

Speaking to Belgiovene, District 1 Legislator Matt McPhillips said, “I’m just thankful for the work that Luis [Alvarez; District 6 Legislator] did with you to be able to help protect our kids. This is an awesome program.”

Belgiovene emphasized that he carefully reviews videos to determine whether or not somebody gets a ticket. “In those 20,000 tickets we wrote last year, we reviewed over 33,000 videos to make sure that it was an actual violation. So there is a human element there that we are reviewing them to make sure that motorists are being issued fairly,” he said. “Working with the Sullivan County Legislature, they want to [have] the same type of integrity in their program as well… We’re not trying to fool anybody, we want it to be completely fair.”

Belgiovene said a year into the program, all 18 school districts in Orange County have opted in, with 15 school districts already actively engaged, at no cost to the school districts.

Who gets the ticket, what is the penalty, and who gets the revenue?

Belgiovene said that once a vehicle has been viewed unlawfully passing a bus the summons goes directly to the registered owner of the vehicle. When Legislator Scott brought up the hypothetical situation of a stolen car, Belgiovene squashed her scenario with a little police wisdom: “At that point you could prove to a Bus Patrol, ‘Hey my car was stolen,’ and I’m sure they would take care of it that way.”

According to the Local Law, which is available to read in full on Sullivan County’s website, a notice of liability will be mailed to the vehicle’s owner along with a penalty of $250, $275, or $300, depending on the vehicle’s violation history, plus $25 if the response is late. 

Belgiovene explained that in Orange County, there is a contractual split of revenue between the county and the Bus Patrol Program, which provides all the equipment, its installation, and the software.

County Manager Joshua Potosek weighed in on the discussion. “You’re going to need some money because you’re going to have to have a staff member, or multiple staff, to review the videos that the vendor sends.” Potosek said it’s up to the Legislature to decide what to do with the remaining revenue balance.

During public comment, resident Ken Walter objected to the nature of “police by camera” and said the public should know how the revenue from the program will be dispersed. “It’s just another way to put money in the coffers,” he said. 

Potosek responded, “When a local law goes into place, we still have to have a procurement process to get a vendor, so that’s where all this can be negotiated. The law just sets us up to allow us to get a vendor.”

To hammer home his message, Belgiovene concluded, “We’re using off-duty or retired police officers to do it to make sure the integrity is there… It is not a money grab; it is for school safety. This program allows you to write hundreds and hundreds of [tickets] per day for riding by a school bus, whereas troopers on the road would write 10 or 12 collectively throughout the county.”