August 08, 2006

Catching speeders without the trap

Police consider posting enforcement areas on city’s Web site

By ED SEALOVER THE GAZETTE

Tired of being surprised by radar-wielding cops nabbing speeders on the side of the road? Thanks to the Internet, the surprise may be gone soon.

Colorado Springs Deputy Police Chief Dave Felice said Monday that police are considering posting on the city’s Web site where they will be gunning for lead-foots. He still must talk it over with patrol officers before moving forward with the plan, he said.

Felice knows of no other city so transparent about its speed enforcement areas —known as “speed traps” — but he said going this route could quell criticism.

Residents have complained since the 2003 inception of the neighborhood speed program that cops hiding behind bushes have been ticketing them just to raise city revenues. Colorado Springs was ranked the fourth-worst speed trap in the nation by the National Motorists Association last month.

“I don’t know how else we can convey to the public that we’re not hiding, that we don’t need to hide,” Felice said after pitching the idea at an informal City Council meeting. “The whole idea is we just want people to be safe.”

That was also the idea of council members when they approved a plan three years ago to lower speed limits to 25 mph in neighborhoods and beef up patrols there.

Felice noted Monday that crashes dipped from 11,828 in 2003 to a projected 10,828 this year, while traffic summonses rose — from 93,047 to a projected 95,203 — in that time.

Along with lower speeds, though, the city raised fines to $10 for each mile per hour a motorist is over the limit.

This has brought in multimillion-dollar yearly revenue boosts for the city and led some to say the speeding en- forcement program is intended to pad the city’s coffers. Critics also say that patrol officers are tucked behind billboards or bushes to take motorists by surprise.

Felice’s idea is to post on www.springsgov.com the intersections and street sections on which the speed enforcement team will be that day. He noted that any police officer can issue a traffic summons in any part of town but said that should help to end the “surprise” factor.

The idea could be shelved if there are too many complaints from officers or if Felice finds it takes too long each morning to post the information on the Web site. But several council members backed the concept Monday, saying it should eliminate many of constituents’ gripes.

“If safety is the concern, it shouldn’t matter if they’re sitting out in the open,” Councilman Darryl Glenn said of patrol officers.

Added Vice Mayor Larry Small: “I think it’s a good idea. . . . I don’t think people intentionally go on the Internet to find out where they can break the law.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0184 or
ed.sealover@gazette.com

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I remember when I got my 05 Suzuki 650S and I had the wife drive the ZR behind me to be safe since I never drove a sportbike other than the 250CC's at the MSF Safety Course. Right outside of the dealership is a serious steep hill and I was coming down on my bike, speed limit was 30 but there is no way you can do 30. Guess who was at the bottom behind a sign, yep a motorcycle cop, Luckily I had a digital speedo, cause I was going like 25, cop stared at me for an entire block.

I have been hit many times around town, but luckily I am never speeding. V-1 has come in very handy!

FYI, the Sgt in charge of the motorcyle dept is a lesbian looking *****,

 

 

Posting where speed traps will be on the internet is a dumb idea. People are going to drive around thinking they know where the speed traps are and get caught at a different trp not listed. Probably going even faster than usual because they have a false sense of security.

It's just a farse to appease some people. If they really want to prove it's not about revenue (and it is), they need to tell officers to not hide behind billboards and the like and also not ticket in ridiculous areas like the bottom of hills.

How about if fines from speeding tickets went to some random charity instead of part of Co. Springs? I bet the number of speeding tickets would go down because it doesn't benefit Co. Springs govt or the PD.

 

On Austin Bluffs in front of my house, they like to hide on the sidewalk. There will be two or three motorcycle cops on the sidewalk behind bushes, with one cop on the opposite side of the street with the radar gun. When someone is speeding, one of the guys on the side walk just evil kenivals his way onto the street and tags the driver down. I've seen them get well over 50 people in a day that way. Posting on the internet is a dumb idea, because the speed trap will still be there and no one is going to check everyday before they go down Austin Bluffs. If they wanted to control speed, a cop car in plain site would work without all the hiding.
Will