Police change MO to get drivers to slow down

[MORTARDUDE]

Police change MO to get drivers to slow down
Officers dress as construction workers along I-40/75 to catch speeders

By DON JACOBS, jacobs@knews.com
June 6, 2003

Knoxville police are going undercover to enforce traffic laws in the construction zones on Interstate 40/75.

But the officers won't be in unmarked cars. They'll be dressed as construction workers, surveyors and other support personnel alongside the interstate.


"We might be out here in a food truck next week," said Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith.

On May 9 the police department launched its BE-SAFE program, designed to slow motorists in the construction zone between the Papermill Drive and Gallaher View Road interchanges. BE-SAFE stands for Buckle Up Everyday, Speed Awareness and Following Too Closely Enforcement Campaign and was developed by Officer Ellie Melton.

Since the effort began, police have issued 1,823 citations in the construction zone, said Darrell DeBusk, spokesman for the Police Department. About 65 percent of the tickets were for speeding, with the remainder for following too closely and improper lane changing, DeBusk said.

Keith said enforcement efforts have shown results. Officers recorded 47 crashes 23 days before the campaign, the chief said, while 31 wrecks have been investigated since.

Keith noted motorists are slowing down when officers are present. "But we need them to slow down all the time," he said. "We need to see a 50- to 60-percent reduction in crashes."

Officers listening to tractor-trailer rig drivers on the citizens band radio know the truckers are sharing information about where and when police are on the road.

"They even know the color of our unmarked cars," Keith said.

While police can throw the truckers a curve by using cars seized in drug raids for the enforcement effort, Keith liked the construction worker idea that has been used in Florida.

DeBusk said he discovered on the Internet that Florida police were dressing up as construction workers to conduct traffic enforcement. Florida police deemed it Operation Hardhat.

"I don't think it's trickery," Keith said. "It's a new technique."

Keith said the state Department of Transportation today would be adding more speed limit signs to the construction areas. Eight signs, or one for each mile of the construction zone on the eastbound and westbound lanes, will be added to remind drivers of the restriction.

The chief balked at criticism the extra tickets are just producing revenue for the city.

"I don't know how much revenue we're producing and, in fact, I don't need to know that," Keith said. "This stuff about quotas is so much trash.

"If people go 45 mph through the four-mile construction zone, it adds one and one-half minute to their trip. Remember, more people are killed or left paralyzed by traffic accidents than by shootings."

Don Lindsey, director of public affairs with AAA East Tennessee, said the Police Department "has made it very clear to the public that they are enforcing the traffic laws" in the construction zone.

"If they have a guy standing out there looking like a construction worker, but holding a radar gun, it's not without due warning," he said. "It's up to the rest of us to take these things seriously."

Don Jacobs may be reached at 865-342-6345