NJ - Monroe police to hike traffic patrol

Monroe police to hike traffic patrol



Thursday, June 19, 2008 By Jessica Beym

jbeym@sjnewsco.com
MONROE TWP. Just as school comes to a close and more teenagers will be out on the roads, the police department will be stepping up its local speed enforcement.
The Monroe Township Police Department recently received a $7,500 grant to target residential streets where speed is the predominate complaint. That money will be used to pay to station a police officer on some residential streets to run radar during prime-time commuting hours.
http://ads.nj.com/RealMedia/ads/adst...ews/@StoryAd?x "In our town the steady growth has increased the workload for the police department across the boards," said Lt. Tony Pace, supervisor of the traffic bureau. "When that occurs the same triage principles are applied as would happen at a busy hospital emergency room. The most serious calls for service get handled first. The residential speeding complaints can fall pretty far down the triage scale."
During 2007, the department responded to 1042 crashes and the traffic bureau investigated 449 of them six of which were fatal. Pace said all this work takes away from the time that the officers can be available for speed enforcement.
With the help of the grant, provided by the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety Division of Highway Traffic Safety.
During the summer, police officers will be paid by the grant to run radar in residential areas of the township. The results will be monitored and studied both before and after the enforcement.
Speed trailers will be located at various locations during the first week, then during the following week, police will issue written warnings. In the third week, there will be a zero-tolerance policy and tickets will be issued.
"The goal is to educate the residents about the risks they create speeding through neighborhoods in their zeal to get to work on time," Pace said." The children are enjoying the warm weather and the break from school. The Monroe Township Police Department wants to ensure it is a very safe one for everyone.