Drivers in/around the Ouachita Parish area should be aware of a section of Hwy 165 within the town limits of Richwood. Many are being told to be prepared to possibly receive a speeding ticket in the mail. The town of Richwood has implemented a program where an individual is stationed on the side of the roadway with what appears to be a radar speed camera to read license plates on alleged speeders. Some who have received tickets in the mail are angry at Richwood's Mayor Gerald Brown for having the program implemented after town Alderpersons passed an ordinance 3-2 just recently. The ordinance has sparked controversy because, according to sources, Brown allegedly told the town's Alderpersons that the system employed would be an automated one where license plates are automatically read, where the information is sent out to appropriate authorities. Tickets are sent to the owners of automobiles whose plates have been read. Sources say that dozens of individuals have been contacted requiring them to pay tickets for as much as $150.00, even if they were not the driver when the alleged speeding event occurred. Sources say that one individual who received a ticket was at work when the alleged speeding occurred, and that individual wondered how they could receive a ticket when they weren't driving the vehicle.

According to sources, Brown brought the ordinance before the Richwood town council, saying that it would provide another revenue stream for the town. The mayor was said to have contracted with an out-of-town firm to put the automated system in place and that the town would have a 60-40 split of the revenue generated from monies collected, with the town receiving forty cents on the dollar. That, according to sources, seemed not to make sense, as the town has two police officers who could patrol the roughly two-mile stretch of Richwood's limit and take in 100% of the money derived from the tickets. A meeting is scheduled this Thursday, August 18, at the multi-purpose building on Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. in Richwood, where there is expected to be a big crowd of angry town residents demanding answers from Mayor Brown. The Monroe Dispatch will have updates on this continuing story as it becomes available.