Starting in January, more cops will be patrolling the streets
looking for traffic scofflaws and speeders thanks to $120,000 the
Hollister Police Department recently received to pay for officer
overtime specifically geared toward traffic enforcement.
Hollister – Starting in January, more cops will be patrolling the streets looking for traffic scofflaws and speeders thanks to $120,000 the Hollister Police Department recently received to pay for officer overtime specifically geared toward traffic enforcement.
The police department received the money through a California Office of Traffic Safety grant that will provide overtime monies for the next two years, and that will allow the department to purchase five new hand-held radar guns to aid in enforcing the city’s traffic issues, said Police Chief Jeff Miller. Currently there are eight patrol cars equipped with moving radar guns, and the new guns will give the department a total of eight hand-helds as well, Miller said.
“If an officer is working at an intersection, the moving radar aren’t as effective,” he said. “This gives them more versatility.”
Miller hopes a concentrated emphasis on traffic enforcement will help decrease traffic accidents and crime in general. In 2004, there were 106 injury accidents in the city, but no fatal accidents, he said.
“Traffic is a problem in this community, and the Office of Traffic Safety recognizes that as well,” Miller said. “Over the course of the last year we’ve heard complaints about different streets and speeding. Those are things we’re not ignoring.”
Because of the department’s low staffing levels, Miller said the department won’t be able to utilize the overtime hours until some time in January. The police department has fought an ongoing battle to adequately protect Hollister with depleted staffing levels due to injuries and financial constraints.
The department is in the process of recruiting more officers, and when the project goes into full effect Miller hopes to have several officers concentrate strictly on areas with a high volume of traffic. Areas around schools, downtown, the main thoroughfares such as San Felipe Road and some residential streets could be saturated with officers concentrating only on traffic issues.
Along with an increase in enforcement, Miller hopes the project will work two-fold – with more tickets being issued and residents becoming more responsible for their actions.
“Traffic enforcement is up, and we’re going to maintain that. We want to do as much as we can to make Hollister’s roads safe,” Miller said. “Hollister can be a much safer place if people take responsibility for their own driving.”
Hollister City Councilman Robert Scattini had questions whether granting officers overtime for traffic enforcement was the most appropriate use of the money, but also conceded the need for traffic enforcement is so great something must be done.
“I think they’re doing a good job with what they have,” he said, “but once the grant runs out we’re back to square one again.”
Scattini said he would like to see officers concentrating on areas on the edge of town, especially in the morning and evenings when commuters are leaving and returning from work.
“It will be good to focus on those areas – maybe it will cut down on accidents and make these people realize the laws,” he said. “People have become so geared to speeding, it’s an everyday thing.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
