State complaint filed over programs that targeted uninsured, speeding vehicles

Two members of the Ocean Springs Board of Aldermen and two others want the state auditor to investigate ticketing programs that have used cameras to cite vehicles for being uninsured or speeding.

Board members Karen Stennis and Shannon Pheiffer were joined by former Mayor Tom Stennis, father of Karen Stennis, and resident Brian Rose in filing the complaint against the “shadow law enforcement program,” according to a news release that Rose sent out Thursday.

The complaint focuses on two companies: Securix and IntelliSafe.

Securix LLC, a Georgia company, developed a proprietary system designed to randomly check license plate numbers against state databases, identify uninsured vehicles and ticket their owners through law enforcement agencies.

IntelliSafe uses its technology to identify speeding vehicles in school zones with a camera attached to an officer’s radar unit.

Both programs mail out tickets that allow a vehicle owner to pay a fine and enter a diversion program rather than fight the ticket in court.

Ocean Springs was the first city in Mississippi to use the Securix program, signing a contract in 2021. But the city soured on Securix and ended the program three years ago after complaints from motorists, including a federal lawsuit,

The Georgia company teamed up with a trio of politically prominent Mississippians to spread the program to other cities through a second company, Securix Mississippi. But by August 2024, Securix Mississippi was essentially out of business because the Department of Public Safety shut off access to the insured motorist database over allegations that the program was being mismanaged.

The Stennises, Phieffer and Rose want a state auditor’s investigation “into financial and compensation practices associated with the traffic enforcement program that began in the city of Ocean Springs and similar programs that operated in other Mississippi municipalities, mostly involving the same actors.”

Following longstanding policy, the auditor’s office would not discuss its plans regarding an investigation.