Guaynabo Municipal Police Traffic Patrols PUERTO RICO

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Increasing crime rates were straining the limited resources of the Puerto Rico State Police. As the police focused on crime, traffic enforcement suffered. In order to increase traffic enforcement, the Puerto Rico Traffic Safety Commission looked to the municipal police forces that had been established a decade ago but did not have traffic patrols. One of these was the Municipal Police of Guaynabo with 170 police officers. Guaynabo was experiencing problems with traffic crashes and drag racing on two of its principal roadways.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of the Guaynabo Police was to reduce crash injuries and fatalities and impact crime. Objectives included:



STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

The Guaynabo police commissioner purchased radar equipment and established two traffic patrols with four officers to be assigned to problem roads. The four officers were sent to the state police academy to receive training in traffic law and enforcement. The public's reaction was very positive once the patrols were put in place, and the mayor and commissioner were very pleased with the "looking beyond the ticket" concept inherent in the process. The mayor and the commissioner then visited all the municipality's barrios (wards) and met with community leaders to explain the effectiveness of aggressive traffic enforcement at reducing crashes and crime.

Guaynabo Municipal Police Traffic Patrols (cont'd)

This led to the expansion of the program to five patrols with 20 police officers, supported with city funds.

RESULTS

Results of the Guaynabo Municipal Police Traffic Patrols have been very positive. Findings include:

Media coverage and public response to this program have been overwhelmingly positive. Arrests were covered in the press and on TV. Citizens have expressed feeling safer because of the aggressive patrols.