A Police Commissioner

On Speeders

To the Editor:

Last November I ran and got elected on a platform of addressing the issue of speeders and traffic management on a townwide basis.

I am please to acknowledge that the Police Commission, the Newtown Police Department, and the Board of Selectmen, as reported in The Newtown Bee, have been aggressively addressing this problem. Enforcement has increased and the word is surely getting out that speeders will be ticketed. The budget for the police department includes increased capital for radar devices and the traffic unit. The department has a traffic strategy that is getting more aggressive monthly.

I remain committed to my pledge to see the issue attacked on a townwide basis. Speeders on our roads place every one of our citizens in danger. The Newtown Bee reports traffic accidents weekly and in the past runners on Route 302 have been hit, deaths have occurred on Main Street, young drivers have been killed in tragic accidents, and a young child was hit darting across Queen Street. We must develop and implement education and enforcement plans that can be applied over our entire 260 miles of roads. Solutions must be practical, sustainable, and in keeping with the character of Newtown.

Some resident continue to advocate that we should address the issue of speeders on their street first. While this “fix my backyard first approach” is understandable, it does not contribute to solving the problem for the community. In fact it diverts resources and efforts away from finding and applying a communitywide solution. These residents appear to have abandoned the idea that education and enforcement are the practical solutions to these issues, suggesting that the police department and town officials have been and are incapable of addressing this issue. Their solution is to install numerous speed bumps on their street and to use this as a prototype for the rest of the town.

Perhaps, someday, I will also come to the conclusion that the only solution is to barricade streets with speed bumps to slow drivers down. Perhaps I will accept the idea that diverting traffic to neighboring streets, interfering with emergency vehicles, restricting traffic flow into the town center, and altering the character of Newtown with hundreds of speed bumps will be the price we have to pay to solve this problem. Would it still be “Nicer in Newtown”?

Perhaps, some day, I will agree with these residents that the police department is unwilling or unable to enforce our laws.

But for now I believe we should be putting maximum effort on solving this problem with solutions that can be applied to the entire town. We need to agree that this is a townwide problem, requiring townwide solutions. Our resources, our efforts, and our cries for help need to be focused on the community so it is safer for all of us, including making all our streets safer for all our children.

Bruce Walczak

12 Glover Avenue, Newtown                                           April 30, 2008