COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING:
A PRACTICAL APPLICATION
By CHIEF GARY L. KUPSAK, Vernon Hills Police Department
How many times have your creative thought
processes been temporarily interrupted by an irate citizen who must, I really mean must speak to you, the
Chief of Police, regarding an "ongoing" speeding problem in their neighborhood? After spending some time
talking with them, you soon realize that the citizen's
concerns are based on a belief that speeding on his/her
street is surpassed only by speeds of vehicles in
Speedway, Indiana, on Memorial Day. Quite possibly,
there may be some misconceptions about the actual
speed of the vehicles on this citizen's street.
In the past we here in Vernon Hills would have a
squad work some directed radar enforcement in the
area for a couple of days, and when few (if any) citations
were issued, we would declare the crisis over, and have
the Patrol of Traffic Division return to normal activities.
In keeping with today's law enforcement focus on
"Community Oriented Policing," we have embarked over
the last two years on a program geared to involve the citizens of the community. Is speeding in their neighborhoods a serious problem that necessitates police intervention or just a perceived problem which in reality
would only result in a cosmetic response and be a misapplication of police resources?
We call this program our "Citizens Speed Control
Program." It has as its foundation the assumption that
citizens of a particular neighborhood, who are genuinely interested in helping law enforcement in the community deal with the speeding problem, will be willing to assist by spending time collecting data on the speeds of
vehicles in the neighborhood. Armed with this empirical
data, police administrations can make a more intelligent
decision on whether or not to direct resources to deal
with the speeding problem in a particular area. It should
be pointed out that these citizens with radar units receive adequate training in the safe operation of the radar
unit, and at no time are allowed to take any enforcement
action in conjunction with their duties/data collection
activities. The following is a synopsis of the program.
VERNON HILLS POLICE DEPARTMENT
CITIZEN SPEED CONTROL PROGRAM
GOAL
To reduce speeds on neighborhood streets
and increase the awareness of citizens
regarding traffic safety and speeding.
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Process
Use citizens to monitor and record speeds of vehicles on neighborhood streets. By establishing when the
speeding problem is occurring, the Police Department
can direct aggressive enforcement during those time
periods.
Using citizens to record speeds with a radar unit
will help educate the citizens on speeding laws, radar
and the limits of police enforcement. The program
will free police officers so they can be utilized at the
optimum times for aggressive enforcement. It will alert
drivers of speeding vehicles to the danger of their actions and will make them aware that their actions are
being monitored.
Program
1. Log time and speed of vehicles to determine
whether there is a speeding problem, and when it
is most prevalent. If the Vernon Hills Traffic
Enforcement Unit determines from the accrued
data that there is a speeding problem, aggressive
enforcement can be directed there.
2. Send educational letters to the registered owners
of vehicles determined to be driven at an excessive
speed.
One of the most frequent requests to the Vernon
Hills Police Department is the need to address speeding along residential streets. The Citizen Speed
Control Program has been established to meet the
needs of our community members.
The Citizen Speed Control Program contributes to
public awareness by involving them in recording of
speeds on neighborhood streets in order to determine
if and when a speeding problem exists. Once this has
been done, the Police Department can focus its resources to address the problem. It is a program in
which concerned community members play an active
role in helping solve speeding problems in their neighborhood.
November 1996 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 23
How The Program Works
Community members desiring to take part in this
program notify the Vernon Hills Police Department
Traffic Unit, expressing their desire to initiate the
Citizens Speed Control program on their street.
Community members wanting to proceed with the
program are briefed on the requirements expected of
them such as proper data collection, use of equipment
and the proper behavior of the participants while conducting data collection. A radar unit is loaned out to
community members, free of charge for a one-week period.
Community member(s) schedule data collection
during various days and times they believe speeding to
be occurring. The community member is responsible
for operating the radar unit and recording the required vehicle information. Preferably this is done by
two people in order to obtain accurate information.
Once all data collection is complete, the radar
unit is returned to the Vernon Hills Police Department
along with all completed forms.
The Police Department may take the license numbers of speeding vehicles and access data from the
Secretary of State's office. This will be cross-checked
with the description of the vehicle documented by the
community member.
A letter from the Vernon Hills Police Department
may be sent to the registered owner(s) of all matched
vehicles. The letter advises them of the observed violation and asks them to encourage drivers of their vehicle to drive at or below the speed limit when traveling on neighborhood streets.
The Vernon Hills Police Department may also use
the collected information to direct special enforcement by Vernon Hills officers on those streets.
Speed limits are established with the safety of both
the residents and motorists in mind.
The CITIZEN SPEED CONTROL PROGRAM educates drivers in the concern of community members
regarding speeding vehicles. It encourages safe driving
when traveling on neighborhood streets.
If you or your neighborhood are interested in the
CITIZEN SPEED CONTROL PROGRAM, or have any
questions or comments, please call the Vernon Hills
Police Department Traffic Enforcement Unit at: 362-4449.
This is a public awareness program, and notices sent to
registered owners of speeding vehicles do not constitute a notice of violation, go on driving records, or impose a fine.
As a result of this program, over 50 citizens have utilized the hand-held radar units. We have found that
there is an inordinate number of vehicles speeding in
some sections of the community. But we have also
learned that in a number of areas, what was perceived
as speeding was in fact not excessive at all. The program
has been a community relations success, and, as a matter of fact, through some national media coverage that
was directed at the program, several communities as far
away as New Jersey and New York have initiated similar
programs.
The bottom line is that getting citizens involved in
the operation of their police department really works. It
allows members of the community to better know their
police officers, and to understand what officers do during their tours of duty. The officers get to know the citizens better. I really believe that both the citizens and the
police officers feel that the neighborhood is working for
the common good of the community to reduce speeding in residential neighborhoods. Applying community
oriented policing concepts to the community is a step in
the right direction. Try it, you and your community may
like it! •
Page 24 / Illinois Municipal Review / November 1996
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