I do not normally respond or comment on articles in the paper. I read them for both information and entertainment. Your paper is one of my favorites and I always look forward to the information that you provide. However, this Campaign article has caught my attention and I feel compelled to provide my opinion/comments.
I don’t know how it is in other areas, but most agencies in Montgomery County - Including mine - participate in just about every 'campaign’ that comes out of TXDOT, The National Highway Council, etc. The problem is that most municipal agencies are short handed and even with subsidizing by these organizations, we still have to provide law enforcement services to the citizens we serve. Overtime pay has never really been a problem in my city. The problem is having enough troops to create the overtime or having enough cars/equipment to perform the additional measures needed to participate in these programs. I try to keep 2 cars on the street around the clock as a minimum for our 17 ½ sq. mile city. In that regard, we are able to address a moderate call load, perform traffic enforcement duties, fight in the war against drugs, help our youth find better direction, participate in the different programs we have for our indigent and elderly citizens, assist our neighboring agencies and keep up with the tremendous amount of paperwork generated by it all. We enjoy a healthy grant program in our city, which not only serves our citizens, but the community as a whole. But it still is just not enough money to do the things we would like to do to enhance the safety and security in our community. Overtime is forced due to late calls, court, and other normal police duties. You can bet your bottom dollar that most officers, at the end of their normal shift, are ready to GO HOME and see their families, etc. They do have to come back in a few hours to start their next tour of duty. So, manpower, not cash flow, drives participation in those fluffy feel good programs that we all enjoy and work within. I would like to see these agencies/organizations that promote these programs spend more money on advertising them than in overtime for the troops. At least then, when the citizen who breaks that particular traffic law get stopped and ticketed, they will know WHY it happened and stop calling me to complain about getting a ticket. By the way, I have never had one call and say, "Hey Chief, I know I deserved that ticket and just wanted to say what a nice guy that cop was." They all want to explain to me why they should not have gotten it in the first place because they are "Mr. or Mrs. Someone Special". Crazy!!
You singled out red lights in your article. So, let’s talk about red lights. We have 2 main red light intersections in our city. Ask the people who drive that area..they see our officers working those intersections routinely. Do they stop?? Nope. Do they get citations?? Yep. My phone rings off the hook with complaints about those tickets too. The biggest plus to our enforcement efforts is that there have not been any more (knock on wood) fatality accidents or major injury accidents at our red light intersections since we began this effort. A major truck stop exists at one of them. Those trucks just don’t care about stopping..they might have to shift a gear or something to start back up. The last of the 2 fatalities at that intersection was because of a big truck and a car, neither of which felt like they needed to come to a complete stop. Realistically, I field complaints from my citizens and my city officials about keeping officers on the red light intersections. The constantly remind me that we have a whole lot more roadways in the city than just those. We try to split up the difference, but, with the major construction happening on US 59, with the high traffic load from the truck stop and State Highway 242, I, in good conscience, cannot ignore those areas. So I will continue to keep troops up there doing their best to keep people safe even against their own will. My city holds a stigma as being a 'speed trap’. I thoroughly promote that stigma! Let the people think we are a speed trap, then they slow down and don’t kill each other on the highways. The reality is that we are writing fewer tickets each month than just about any other agency on US 59..400 - 500 a month, and that includes what is written inside the city on the regular streets. Yep..we’re a regular speed trap! But, if all the hoopla about cash and speed traps and everything else that people who don’t like tickets can come up with causes them to slow down and drive safely and not kill themselves or another, then I think we can honestly say we are winning th
