Police To Work Overtime On Traffic Enforcement

By Andrew Gorosko

Having endorsed a planning document last fall that states a town traffic enforcement strategy, Police Commission members are now considering certain specific tactics needed to control the various traffic problems reported to police, especially speeding.

Toward that goal, Police Commission members have shifted $20,000 in funds within their budget to beef up traffic enforcement in the coming months. The Police Commission serves as the local traffic authority.

On the recommendation of Police Chief Michael Kehoe, commission members on February 5 shifted $20,000 in funds from the “sworn personnel” account to the “police overtime” account.

Chief Kehoe said the $20,000 would be used to cover overtime shifts for patrol officers during which they would focus on enforcing traffic laws. The money would provide traffic enforcement equaling about 52 eight-hour work shifts.

Police Commission member Duane Giannini suggested that $40,000, instead of $20,000, be earmarked for such traffic enforcement duty. Chief Kehoe responded that he would prefer to start the special traffic enforcement program more gradually, with the smaller sum.

Chief Kehoe had provided Police Commission members with the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the Harrison Group, which indicated public dissatisfaction with local traffic conditions.

Commission member Bruce Walczak, who attended a recent presentation of the poll’s results, told panel members that speeding motorists pose “a major concern” for residents.

 “I don’t think it’s a surprise,” Mr Walczak said of residents’ concerns over traffic problems.

 Mr Walczak was a member of an advisory group that oversaw the production of the Queen Street Area Traffic Improvement Plan, a detailed 2007 traffic study which examined various traffic problems in the town center and made recommendations for improvements.    

“How do we address this kind of [traffic] problem…in a tangible way?” Mr Walczak asked commission members.

By publicizing its traffic enforcement efforts in the press, the police department shows that it is addressing the public’s concerns about traffic, Chief Kehoe said.

Mr Giannini urged that the police publicize certain enforcement statistics to demonstrate that they have made progress in traffic enforcement. Police should be more specific in explaining exactly what traffic enforcement has occurred, he said.

Mr Walczak noted that the commission approved a traffic enforcement planning document last October, stating the panel’s traffic control philosophy.

Beyond that document, the commission should state how it measures police progress in enforcing traffic laws, he said.

Police Captain Joe Rios pointed out that it is a difficult task for police to generally reduce motorists’ travel speeds. “It’s a challenge,” he said.

Recently, the police department has had a provisional traffic enforcement unit on duty, when police staffing levels have allowed such a unit to operate. When police staff levels increase in the coming months, police plan to formalize that traffic unit.

When the unit formally organizes, police should form a work plan for the group, Chief Kehoe said.

“The unit’s going to be multifunctional,” said Chief Kehoe. The police chief has said that besides enforcing the traffic laws, the traffic unit would have a public education function in explaining traffic-related issues to the public.

Commission member Brian Budd observed, “We are making steps forward…We are going in the right direction.” Although traffic enforcement progress is being made, it is not happening as quickly as commission members would like, he added.

 Capt Rios said that law enforcement agencies across the country face the same traffic enforcement issues that police face locally.

Town police are working their way toward solutions and will create a full local traffic enforcement program, he said.

Mr Giannini urged that police traffic enforcement be consistently performed to generally reduce local travel speeds.

The traffic enforcement plan that was approved by the commission last October provides an enforcement strategy, he said. Police now need the tactical plans required to implement that strategy, he said.

Police are considering a plan under which old, marked police cars that are no longer regularly used would be parked unmanned in strategic locations around town to simulate a police presence and thus deter speeding.

The traffic enforcement strategy’s main goals are to reduce the number and severity of traffic accidents, cut traffic congestion, reduce aggressive driving, and control speeding. By making local roadways safer, police would seek to increase the local quality of life.

During the past several years, residents’ concerns about traffic problems in the town center, and especially along Queen Street and Glover Avenue, have been a focus of much Police Commission attention. The town commissioned the recent Queen Street Area Traffic Improvement Plan to address those issues.

The police department’s broad goals in law enforcement as stated in its current five-year strategic plan are: achieving voluntary public compliance with the law, protecting life and property against crime, facilitating the safe and rapid movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic in town, and improving the local quality of life by reducing crime and the fear of crime.