View from the cop: Crime & punishment
View from the Cop is moving to a new site on Wordpress. Blogger Steve Rose of the Sandy Springs Police Department gives his take on crime, offers safety tips and give his weekly picks from the police blotter. Follow Steve Rose to the new blog site.
AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2008 > March > 18
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Traffic rules to live by
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was out of the office for a couple of days last week. Upon return, one of my favorite things is to listen to the endless voice mails on my phone—despite my message that I’m not in and please call back. In this business, “I’m not in so please call back” is a clue that I’d like you to call back, but I think in America, we’re obligated to leave a voice mail. One was: “I wanted to leave a message that I’ll call back.”
I average about 20 voice mails and a hundred e-mails a day meaning that I can’t get to them all in a day. I try to filter them. By phone, I tend to analyze the voice for signs of urgency. For instance, I’m more likely to return “BEEP— AUGHHHHHHHHHH” before I return “BEEP—“Uh, hello, uh, hello? Uh, oh yeah, uh, I was told to call this number if I needed to talk to someone about my problem. My 12-year old won’t eat her vegetables and was rude to me. Can you guys come out and talk to her?” (Actual call by the way.)
There are two voice mails that also show up frequently on my e-mails. One is the complaint that the cops are writing too many tickets. “It seems that all you guys do is write tickets! Don’t you guys have anything to do? Why do you write all those tickets? Also, some guy cut me off while I was driving up 400. Can’t you guys do something about these reckless drivers?”
Like clockwork, the one behind it reads: “We live in an area where traffic cuts through. The drivers speed through here all the time. It looks like they’re speeding, well I know at least 147 miles per hour. Can’t you guys do anything about that?”
Every police department gets a lot of folks complaining about too much of something and then not enough of the same.
Traffic complaints are looked at in terms of where the complaint is taking place and the circumstances. For instance, school zones, especially where school buses load and unload, are ranked a bit more of a priority that the guy on the cell phone reporting that the car next to him flipped him the finger. The second example will of course upgrade in priority when it results in gunfire.
Last week we responded to a number of complaints around one of our high schools. The traffic complaints involved the running of stop signs and speeding in school zones during the morning and afternoon hours. The area is heavily residential with a population who all have e-mail and know our e-mail address. Historically, this area has a lot of traffic problems.
On Monday we proceeded to address the complaints. We sent our motor units and other traffic officers to seek justice and righteously correct the evils of those who violate the law—especially in the school zone.
By Monday afternoon, the tally came to over 80 citations (yes, 80 for stop-sign violations, speeding, expired tags, passing the school bus loading and unloading, no driver’s license, no insurance, a little problem with the Marijuana, and a number of other offenses. Two souls went to jail (insurance problem and the Marijuana guy) and many will reach into their pockets on court day.
Responding to complaints is done without regard to race, creed, color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, NASCAR loyalty, or your views on the designated hitter rule in the American League (which, by the way, is evil) or any other factor—including, by the way, where you live. There is no rule that says if you live in the residential area where the complaint originated, you are exempt from the enforcement of the violations your community complained about. That being said, there were a significant number of residents of this area ticketed.
On a good month, we work 600 accidents. On a bad one, almost double that number. Many involve serious injury and some involve fatalities. Many are a result of plain old sloppy and inconsiderate driving. Many could probably be traced to someone who was running late or someone just not wanting to take the time to stop or to slow down. Folks are so bogged down in traffic most of the time, when they get a fast lane they take it and don’t want to slow back down. The degree to which they take it puts them on the edge or over the line on dangerous driving. It’s almost like a conditioned response, like Pavlov’s dogs or my uncle Dewey when we take him to Hooter’s.
The fact is that (gasp) cops have been known to push the speed limit from time to time so yes we have to pull the troops in occasionally and have the old Come-to-Jesus meeting on speeding issues. Most cops respond well to these meetings after we present the foot-beat alternative.
We’re all together in this big clown car of life so save yourself some grief, money, and points on your license and watch those speed limits and stop signs, and remember, those school bus drivers will send us tag numbers if you pass when they loading and unloading. Just stop. Here’s a hint: When the red things are flashing on that big yellow thing, stop. So you’re ten minutes late.
Relax out there.
Services »
