Speeding - Limited Resources or Limited Leadership

[Ryan Salo]

I, like many other citizens I talk to, are concerned about speeders in the city. I would hate to wait until a child or a biker is hit for the city leadership to make it more of a priority. Is the city currently doing everything it can to slow traffic and keep our walkers and bikers safe?

“Look at the facts”, this is the message I received from an anonymous source after I posted my review of the Mayors event at Deagan’s early in the month. To recap that portion of the post, I asked the mayor about radar tickets and was told that it is important to him but to remember that we have “limited resources”. After receiving the call from a source that wanted to remain unnamed I decided to dig in and see if what the Mayor said was true. I simply downloaded the last 5 years of Police Annual reports and then requested a couple missing numbers directly from the police records department.

First I wanted to see if the police really had spent less time on radar or if I was just imagining it. The numbers I found were startling. Here is a graph of the radar tickets issued from 2008 to 2013.

radar tickets.jpg (14.32 KiB) Viewed 3380 times

The number of tickets issued had dropped 70%! Was this due to “limited resources”? What are the resources we need to fine speeders and make the streets safer? Officers running radar on the street. Was there a 70% drop in patrol cars on the streets? Let’s take a look.

Avg patrol cars on road per shift.jpg (19.04 KiB) Viewed 3380 times

The average number of patrol cars has gone up and down over the last 5 years but has hovered around 9, so that can’t be the reason. If what the Mayor said was true, that we have limited resources, and yet we have virtually the same number of officers on the streets then the officers must be spending more time responding to calls, right? I looked at the total calls, total priority calls and the total arrests over the last 5 years.

officer activity.jpg (25.11 KiB) Viewed 3380 times

We have had a decrease in calls, priority calls and total arrests! That is great news, but it also leads me to believe that the officers could be more productive while on patrol. I am very grateful for the work the Lakewood Police Officers do day in and day out, but let’s be honest. All employees, whether police or an office worker, need to have goals given to them from superiors and then management needs to track the results to keep folks accountable. When low standards are given you can’t blame the worker you have to blame the leadership.

I believe it is time to apply pressure to the Mayor to have his leadership team raise the bar on expectations for the officers on patrol. We obviously have the resources, we have great police officers, I believe we just need better leadership. Thoughts?

[Danielle Masters]

I don't know why but I wish it would be addressed. We have had concerns about speeding increasing on our street for a few years now. Last year our car was totaled by a speeding driver who luckily took out our parked car rather than the tree. It was pushed two driveways away and 6 feet from the curb. She was speeding very fast especially given the car was parked in the first spot after the tracks. You would think railroad tracks would slow people down or the fact the are two elemetary schools in this area but nope. The only thing that has slowed the traffic down has been the motorcycle officer parked at the end of the street I've seen a few times. Hell I am not a big government person but I'd rather see revenue generated from catching speeders than from taxes.

[Bill Call]

Nice work.

I see Rocky River speed traps on Clifton just over the bridge and on I 90 and Hilliard but other than the motor cycle cop on Webb I don't recall seeing any speed traps in Lakewood.

[Will Brown]

I think giving officers on patrol quotas is as close to ridiculous as you can get. That is a Linndale tactic. where they hung out on the small stretch of the interstate that passed within their borders, and aggressively cited and fined, and that was how they got the money to run their little town.

What kind of limits would you set? A patrolman could not go off duty until he had issued seven speeding tickets, but a DUI would count double, and a felony bust would count for four speeding tickets? The reality is that the police cannot issue tickets until they see the event. so if there are few speeders (a desirable situation, I think) would we lay off some officers?

I frequently see police parked on a road, and apparently others see them and don't speed. I call that good police work. Since I don't see many speeders, I think management must be putting their resources in the right places. I live on a block where there used to be a lot of speeding, and almost every time I got exercised and called the police, there would soon be a police presence and the speeding would stop. Has something changed?

[Jim O'Bryan]

I believe it is time to apply pressure to the Mayor to have his leadership team raise the bar on expectations for the officers on patrol. We obviously have the resources, we have great police officers, I believe we just need better leadership. Thoughts?

Ryan, Others

I have seen Lakewood Police working the Clifton Bridge. No where near as much as Rocky
River that is for sure. The same is true with I-90. I have no problems with speed traps
as we are roughly calling them, but only if it is a profitable business.

As Lakewood continues its shift from bedroom community to barroom community police are
often need in other places. File this under cause and effect. You build a mall, you are bound
to get more shoplifting than building a factory. But both invite car thieves, and a factory has
more injuries than a mall, etc.

So when the 4 police cars and ambulance go to World of Beers to treat the person hit over
the head by a person with a beer bottle. That also leads to your drop in arrests, length of
time to get to calls, etc. So that you need police to manage the nightlife, and not give out
tickets on Woodward or Clifton.

While one can always site leadership, one should also look at the fact the city has had no
plan or vision as long as this project existed.

Me, I would rather see criminals off the street, housing stock in great shape, nuisance
violations down, THEN crack on speeders.

FWIW


.

[Bill Call]

I think giving officers on patrol quotas is as close to ridiculous as you can get. That is a Linndale tactic. where they hung out on the small stretch of the interstate that passed within their borders, and aggressively cited and fined, and that was how they got the money to run their little town.

Good point.

Me, I would rather see criminals off the street, housing stock in great shape, nuisance
violations down..
.

Sounds like a platform for a mayoral candidate.

[Michael Deneen]

Limited resources?
I'm confused.
I always thought that speed traps were money makers, not loss leaders.

I'm not advocating that we become Linndale or Ferguson, MO (where court fees are a very high percentage of city revenue).
However, proper speed enforcement on Lake and Clifton could certainly generate significant revenue....which in turn could be used to increase regular police patrols and/or to police the bar scene.

I could be mistaken. Perhaps Ed Favre could enlighten us on the expenses/costs associated with speed enforcement.

[Will Brown]

I don't have any figures, but if I had to bet, I would bet that speed traps are a money loser.

You might make a little if everyone pleaded out at the preliminary hearing, but you would lose big if someone pled not guilty, as you would have to hold a trial and bring in your witnesses.

Who would plead not guilty? Any multiple offender who was concerned about his insurance costs soaring or getting too many points; any politician; any judge, and the list goes on.

I know someone who was an alcoholic (now on the wagon), but never let that interfere with his driving. So he was cited often, and he never pled out to the original charges. He would get an attorney and try to get the charges reduced. Defense attorneys are skilled in drawing out a case, so they can get the prosecutor to agree to a lesser charge. Meanwhile, you have an officer on duty, but not looking for speeders because he is sitting in the courtroom. And if you can get a delay, he may have to come back for a second day.

Interestingly, in France they have a lot of cameras that record the identity and speed of speeders. Then they send you a letter saying they got you and if you send them a small amount (50 Euro, I believe) by a certain date, you will have the case closed; but if you don't send them the 50 Euro, the fine becomes 150 Euro. You can pay by going to their web site. Pretty efficient for the French. Don't ask me how I know this.

[Bill Burnett]

I recall reading somewhere a few years ago in regards to the Rocky River speed trap on I-90 that officers come in on overtime to sit there and give out speeding tickets and that it was worth paying the overtime since they wrote enough tickets to not only cover the overtime pay for the officer but also make some money for the city. Perhaps Lakewood could find out if this would work here.

[Ryan Salo]

Bill,

I would like to see the numbers as well. This is from the Deagan's event with the Mayor.

I asked if numbers had been run to see if we could justify having off duty officers come in for overtime pay and he said he did not know if the numbers would work. I asked that he please look into it.

I did call the police station yesterday and was told that they actually had 4 cars out just focused on radar. I asked if that was normal and was told it is normally 1-2 cars per day.

I guess, based on current production levels, it would not pay for itself if we have had 1-2 officers focused on radar every day and they only issue 405 tickets last year. Let's say we had just 1, that is only 1.1 tickets per day??

[Missy Limkemann]

If the city really wants to make money AND get enough tickets...patrol the school zones. Seriously. People zoom by those so fast my car shakes when I am sitting there waiting for my son. And I drive an SUV. I swear it is a huge money maker. Mainly on Clifton. You have Taft and Emerson together and the cars just fly by.

[marklingm]

Perhaps Ed Favre could enlighten us on the expenses/costs associated with speed enforcement.

Mike,

Ditto.

Ed Favre is a wealth of knowledge as to how the City of Lakewood operates.

I'm sure Ed has much to add to this discussion.

Matt

[Will Brown]

We don't have a Police Department to make money; we have a Police Department to keep us safe. The police should prefer stopping speeding, rather than chasing a speeder (an inherently dangerous activity; recall the incidents a few years ago when the idiot tried to jump the valley; or the taped incident when the idiot forgot to turn at Clifton and Baltic and planted his car in a house) to issue a citation and try to make a few bucks. That is why they station themselves in plain view, rather than hiding behind some billboard. Speeding prevented is a better solution than speeding accomplished and fined.

I don't see rampant speeding by the three schools near my home during posted hours, and I know that because I slow down and don't get passed. If you think you see speeding because your parked car shakes, I think you are not a very credible witness as you have no measurements to back up your claim, and are probably not trained to judge speed, and there could be other reasons for your vehicle to shake.

[Stan Austin]

Remember-- relying on traffic enforcement as a major revenue source is part of what makes Ferguson MO so crappy.

[Jeff Dreger]

I don't think anyone's talking about making ticketing more of a revenue stream. I believe folks are merely trying to justify additional radar running in the interest of safety and figuring if it's something that would pay for itself or be an additional cost.