Per a resolution passed by the county council in October, Hyattsville is seeking approval to place stop sign cameras at various locations across the city.

Stop sign cameras detect whether drivers approaching white stop lines come to a complete stop — meaning that there is a visible rock back and the car’s wheels stop moving entirely. Cameras use high resolution video and radar to capture images as a car approaches, and a photo after the car passes the stop line.

If a driver fails to come to a stop, the camera records the car’s license plate. The vendor and the Hyattsville Police Department will review the footage to determine if an infraction occurred. A warning period is under negotiation, but a driver with an infraction could receive a ticket of up to $40. 

The resolution stems from a community-wide push to end pedestrian fatalities after two children walking to school in Riverdale Park were struck and killed by a negligent driver.

According to statewide fatal crash data provided by Zero Deaths Maryland, Prince George’s County recorded 96 fatal crashes in 2024, making it the deadliest county for pedestrians in Maryland. 

County Councilmember Wanika Fisher (District 2), who represents Hyattsville, voted in favor of the resolution and describes herself as one of the county’s pedestrian safety champions.

“Who I think about every day are our smallest, most vulnerable Prince Georgians and our little ones that are crossing the road,” Fisher said in an interview. “When you stop at the stop sign, you’ll be able to take a second and see the other person.” 

Fisher said that the cameras, limited to school zones, will increase residential safety and reassure concerned Hyattsville residents, especially parents of young children.

“Your children are in the crosswalk, and someone reached for their phone and didn’t stop at the stop sign, and those two babies are dead,” Fisher said. “Their lives are worth a stop sign camera.”

Hyattsville resident Melissa Schweisguth shared camera locations suggested by the county council with the HOPE (Hyattsville Organization for a Positive Environment) listserv. She noted that neighboring communities in Brentwood and Mount Rainier were shocked by cameras that seemingly went up overnight, and wanted to avoid that same outcome for Hyattsville residents. 

“I think they’re an awareness-raising tool about the fact that we share the road, and there are rules of the road,” Schweisguth said in an interview.

Some community members are concerned about increased surveillance, particularly in light of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Hyattsville, and footage capturing more than just plate numbers, Schweisguth said. 

“At this time, there’s the Trump administration and ICE, there are federal agents all around more,” she noted. “More people are a little more concerned about tracking, and our neighbors being tracked.”

While the Maryland attorney general has said that local agencies are not required to participate in immigration enforcement, Hyattsville and other local municipalities do not permit local law enforcement to work with ICE on matters of immigration enforcement. ICE agents are legally unable to access Hyattsville police database for footage and photographs taken at stop signs. 

“Hopefully, we have those protections so that this camera footage would be used only for traffic enforcement,” Schweisguth said. 

In an interview, Hyattsville Mayor Robert Croslin affirmed that footage captured at these stops would not be used to inform ICE agents or be shared with any other government agencies. He also noted that cameras and subsequent tickets were not implemented as a “money grab.”

“We’re not interested in having these cameras to raise money,” Croslin said. “The cameras are strictly to get people to stop at stop signs, and slow them down around school areas.”

Croslin said that the cameras’ success will be measured by their ability to keep children safe.

“I had a conversation with our police chief [Jarod Towers], and they’re not there to catch what you call ‘rolling stops,’” Croslin said. “It’s just to make sure that they either stop at stop signs, or that at least they are slowing down enough that they’re not going to endanger the lives of people — potentially kids — crossing the street.”

Claire Huss is an undergraduate journalism student at the University of Maryland.