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Brockport PD - Special
Enforcement Programs
The imperatives of any
modern police force are service and protection. While one of the most
visible forms of these functions is traffic enforcement, enforcement alone
is not enough. The Brockport Police Department engages in a number of
Special Enforcement Programs that not only have a direct impact on traffic
safety, but on our quality of life as a whole.
Before discussing
these Programs specifically, it is important to remember two things about
traffic enforcement in general:
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Police officers try
to educate the public in vehicle safety by conducting traffic stops when a
violation of law is observed. Sometimes a warning is sufficient,
sometimes a citation is in order. Whether a ticket is issued or not, the
imperative is protecting the citizens of our Community.
-
Citizen concerns
regarding traffic safety in their neighborhoods often dictate when and
where police monitor for violations. If Village residents have a
particular area or issue they would like addressed, they should contact
the Police Department by telephone during regular business hours at
637-1020 (for on-going problems) or dial 911 (for in-progress events
requiring Police response). You may also e-mail at
commserv@brockportpolice.org.
Please:
If
you see red and white flashing lights behind you, PULL TO THE RIGHT and
STOP! Stay in your car, and await the officer with your hands on the
steering wheel. Remember: bad guys need to get from point A to point B to
commit their crimes - and we don't always know the good guys from the bad
guys until we talk to you!
Aggressive
Driving:
Enforcement
The Brockport
Police Department has secured Grants from the New York State Governor's
Traffic Safety Committee, through the Monroe County Traffic Safety Board,
that enables us to put forth officers tasked with targeting aggressive
drivers.
These Grants pay for
officers to patrol areas where speeding, running red lights and stop signs,
and failing to yield to pedestrians are a problem. Officers assigned to
these details are asked to write tickets for violations as a means by which
to send a strong message that unsafe driving habits will not be tolerated in
our Community.
Defensive
Driving Seminars:
Education
Local area
Defensive Driving and Driver Education instructors call upon Brockport
Police Officers to provide valuable information to their students.
Police professionals
have held discussion sessions with motorists, both new and experienced ones,
regarding the Vehicle and Traffic Law, collision avoidance, drug and alcohol
impaired driving, and issues such as distracted driving and drowsy driving.
The goal is to provide accurate information, dispel myths and rumors, and
encourage safe vehicle operation.
Alcoholic
Beverage Control Law - Impaired Driving Deterrence Grants:
Enforcement
Grants have been
secured from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, and the Monroe County
STOP DWI Program, to enforce underage drinking laws and deter underage
drinking and driving.
Special details have
been put together using Grant funds to allow premise checks of bars,
restaurants, and taverns, to ensure that youths under 21 years of age are
not consuming alcoholic beverages. The Brockport Police Department has also
cooperated with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and State
Liquor Authority in conducting sweeps of local establishments for fraudulent
documents often used by underage youth to purchase alcohol.
These programs, in
conjunction with the ongoing efforts of local tavern owners to improve
training and compliance within their staff (through voluntary completion of
such Liquor Authority approved courses as TIPS, FAIR, and I'm SMART), have
been effective in reducing the number of underage people involved in
alcohol-related incidents.
These details also
target house parties, by use of undercover operatives who are under 21,
where alcohol is given or sold. Those people who provide alcohol to those
under 21 years old are charged with the Misdemeanor offense of Unlawfully
Dealing with a Child 1st Degree, and may be subject to arrest, fines up to
$1,000, and/or one year in jail. Additionally, those who accept money for
providing alcohol at these parties may be charged with Sale of Alcohol
without a License, also a Misdemeanor.
Buckle Up New
York - Seatbelt Compliance:
Enforcement
Grants have been
obtained from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee to allow targeted
enforcement of seatbelt use in conjunction with State and National seatbelt
compliance initiatives. Checkpoints and blanket patrols are used in these
efforts.
You've seen the
commercials and the billboards: Click It or Ticket. The Brockport Police
Department strictly enforces seatbelt use. Seatbelt compliance is not only
a matter of personal safety, as others who are inside a vehicle involved in
a collision may be killed or seriously injured by the movement of an
unrestrained occupant. Most serious injury and fatal crashes don't happen
on the highway at high speed, but within five (5) miles of home at speeds
under 35 mph, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov ).
Pedestrian
Safety:
Enforcement and
Engineering
The Brockport
Police Department and Village
of Brockport Department of Public Works have completed a five-year program
to improve crosswalk visibility and gain compliance with crosswalk use laws.
The Village of
Brockport was awarded the American Automobile Association's Platinum Award
for Traffic Safety for the year 2004 after completion of our five year
effort. We were one of only seven communities in New York State to achieve
that recognition. We believe this was in no small part due to the combined
efforts of the Village Departments to engineer safer and more visible
crossings, erect signs both along and in the street alerting motorists to
crosswalks and the law, and targeted enforcement efforts by police.
Speed Sentry -
Speed Monitoring:
Enforcement,
Education, and Engineering
Assemblyman William
Reilich was instrumental in obtaining a State Legislative Grant which
enabled the Brockport Police Department to purchase a Speed Sentry RADAR
device.
The Speed Sentry is a
device that is fully man-portable, mounts easily on street signs or
telephone poles, and provides a large, lighted display of vehicle speeds
approaching the RADAR unit. The Speed Sentry educates motorists as to their
speed in a "heads-up" display with easy to read 18 inch numbers, allows
officers in the area to enforce speeds by targeting violators, and allows
recording of traffic flow and speed trends.
The information
gathered by the Speed Sentry is downloaded and provided to the Village
Department of Public Works as part of their ongoing efforts in traffic
engineering. Speed and traffic flow trends are used by Police to target
times when there tend to be more speeders in a particular area.
Because the Speed
Sentry is so easily movable and mountable, it can be used in any area of the
Village, unlike conventional "speed trailers."
STOP DWI -
Targeting Impaired Driving:
Enforcement
The Brockport
Police Department participates in the Monroe County STOP DWI Program by
utilizing Grant funding provided from the County to enhance road patrol
traffic enforcement, specifically targeting impaired drivers.
Officers are deployed
in blanket patrols, and sobriety checkpoints, in order to deter alcohol and
drug impaired driving, and arrest those who drive under the influence. The
Village of Brockport has suffered a number of alcohol and drug related
crashes over the past two years, and while Nationally the number of crashes
has decreased, in the Village it appears to have increased. It is our plan
that through continuing enforcement, education, and training, we will
positively impact this trend.
Drug and Alcohol
Impaired Driving - Police Officer Training:
Education
The Brockport
Police Department has taken a leading role in providing training to Police
Officers from across the County and across the State. Instructors from
Brockport have been utilized in teaching the Drug Evaluation and
Classification Program, as well as the DWI Detection - Standardized Field
Sobriety Testing program, using the curriculum of the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.
The Governor's Traffic
Safety Committee has sponsored training with the cooperation of local
Departments, including Brockport, the Monroe Community College Public Safety
Training Facility, and other law enforcement agencies, to enable police
officers to better detect and apprehend drug and alcohol impaired drivers.
These workshops include rigorous classroom and field training in the use of
standardized and systematic system of evaluation tools. For more
information visit the GTSC Web Site at
http://www.safeny.org or the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration website at
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
Crowd
watches start of DWI Crash Simulation
For additional
information on any of the Brockport Police Department's Special Enforcement
Programs, contact Sgt. Mark Philippy at 585-637-1020 x42, or you may e-mail
philippy@brockportpolice.org.
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