FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2009
Safe Streets of Sumter Program
There have been 714 total collisions in the City of Sumter this year, to include 4 fatal collisions and several individuals flown to other trauma centers within the State. The Safe Streets plan will involve off duty personnel committing one of their days off between shift rotations to come and assist the Traffic Division in reducing the number of collisions within our City limits. I believe this stepped up enforcement along with educating the public on the current contributing factors of collisions will reduce our total number of crashes, especially those involving great bodily injury or death.
The education of the community will entail the local media, community meetings, and Shaw AFB Commander’s Calls to disseminate information about current trends, causations, and time periods that are the greatest factors in collisions. We will also let the public know where we will be doing stepped up enforcement through the specified time period. This will give the citizens an advantage of what, when and where we are looking for specified violations. Driving habits will improve with a law enforcement presence; with more officers on the road looking specifically for traffic violations the public will be more attentive to their driving habits. Speeds will slow, people will be more attentive, and collisions will decrease!
The assistance from the shifts must be an officer which is speed measuring device certified and is able to work with minimal supervision and is a self motivator. These units will be used to enforce specified traffic laws in specified areas throughout the City dictated by the Traffic Division Supervisor and the Traffic Analysis. Their focus will be on the causations of collisions to include, but not limited to, speed, seatbelt usage, improper lane usage, and right of way violations. They will be used for calls for service in emergent situations only, will not respond to collisions unless in the previously specified area of concentration. Their focus will be solely on traffic enforcement. The time period will start 4 May 2009 and will continue throughout the summer months and end in September after Labor Day weekend (September 11, 2009). This timeframe will encompass all of the 100 deadly days of summer, Memorial Day Weekend, and the 4th of July celebrations. These officers will work the peak collision times of the day 1200 – 1800 hours, and special enforcement saturations/checkpoints conducted by the Traffic Division. Also officers will be assigned a Traffic Division court date, for offenses made during the enforcement activity only, to alleviate any burden on the Magistrates Office City Court docket. The first locations being targeted are Broad St from Mason Rd to Wise Dr, Alice Dr and Liberty St from Wedgefield Rd to Salem St.
As we are all aware with summer travel collisions tend to increase, along with the severity, and the use of alcohol during these celebration periods. As Law Enforcement Officers we have a responsibility to our citizens not only to protect them from the criminal violations but also to ensure safe travel on our roadways. This can only be accomplished through education and strict enforcement. I believe our collision rate will decline with this special assistance making our roadways safer for each citizen traveling to see loved ones throughout the summer.
Respectfully submitted,
Sgt. Donald Rach
Traffic Division Supervisor