By JEFF LIPTON
Police Commissioner Thomas R. Sofield Sr. has directed the department's traffic enforcement division to undertake a program to reduce accidents, prevent injuries and save lives. The department has adopted a Selective Traffic Enforcement Program, or STEP, specifically aimed at the most aggressive drivers - those who are caught speeding, tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic or making illegal lane changes. Drunk drivers and cell phone users are also among the lawbreakers police are targeting.
Police are going about this with a birds-eye view from a utility-truck bucket about 25 feet above the ground. A police officer has been stationed in the cherry-picker-style vehicle on East Park Avenue, between Franklin and Neptune boulevards, watching traffic and training a laser gun on cars to detect their speeds, said Lt. Michael Tangney of the Long Beach Police Department. He explained that the department is targeting aggressive drivers on East Park Avenue between Maple and Edwards boulevards, a stretch of a little more than a mile.
Tangney applied for a $12,412 grant to launch the program, mostly to pay for overtime for the officers involved in the traffic enforcement. The money was obtained from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee through the Nassau County Safety Board.
"We want to show the public that we're serious about the issue," Tangney said. "We're trying to send a strong message. We are going to slow down traffic and save lives."
The initiative has brought measurable results. In the first three months of 2008, police recorded a 10 percent reduction in accidents and a 10 percent increase in summonses, Tangney said. In addition, he added, from Oct. 1, 2007, through March 31, 79 people were injured in accidents, compared with 102 for the same six-month period the previous year. "That's a tremendous decrease in injuries," he said.
Meanwhile, the number of summonses issued by police increased from 823 to 914 for that same six-month span, Tangney said. "Our goal is to get aggressive drivers, specifically those who exhibit dangerous behavior," he said.
To identify these drivers, one officer is positioned in the bucket 25 feet in the air with a laser gun to record drivers' speeds, while another is in a car, ready to pursue law violators, and two officers are on foot, issuing tickets, all under the supervision of Tangney. The four-officer teams work four-hour shifts.
Tangney called the program "a very visible presence followed up by aggressive enforcement."
In late April, officers stopped a driver who was issued five tickets. "He was way out of control on the roadway," Tangney said.
He noted that aggressive driving has gotten out of hand in the last few years. "Oh, absolutely, 10 years ago you rarely heard about road rage," Tangney said. "We also have a tremendous increase in vehicles on the roadway. More vehicles mean that society's at a greater risk.
"This is all about changing drivers' behavior," he added.
Long Beach Police Officer Brett Curtis is one of the officers assigned to the bucket to keep an eye on the traffic. "I would say it's extremely effective," Curtis said of the "bucket patrol." "All moving vehicles, in general, are slowing down. But we're looking out for everything - aggressive lane changes, failure to signal, tailgating, cell phones. I can even see the inspection stickers.
"It can definitely be a speedway," Curtis said of East Park Avenue. "The people who live in the area are very pleased to see us out there for traffic enforcement."
Curtis said he definitely gets a unique perspective from the bucket. "I would say that you can't be afraid of heights," he said.
The stepped-up enforcement has drawn rave reviews from some in the community. Matt Schab, owner of Lazy Days Books on East Park Avenue, said that he has seen too many accidents in recent years on his stretch of road. "The speeding over here has been totally out of control," Schab said. "I think the enforcement is a very good thing. I'm all for it."
He said that in recent years, Park Avenue has been the scene of two fatal accidents and out-of-control vehicles careening into storefronts. "There have been a lot of accidents," Schab added.
Tom Yun, owner of Quick Wash Dry Cleaners on East Park Avenue, said he has noticed more police in the area and more cars being pulled over. But, he added, the increased enforcement has not seemed to slow traffic. "I have not noticed a difference in the speeding," Yun said. "The cars come pretty fast when I cross the street. It seems like a dangerous situation when you are trying to cross the street to get to the parking lot."
Gregg Weisenberg, who has lived on Maple Boulevard for five years, said he has seen the extra enforcement mainly between 7 and 8 a.m., and added that greater enforcement is needed at night, when people leave local bars and hop in their cars. "Police should be out trying to get drunks at night instead of dogging people trying to get to work in the morning," he said.
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
