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Project
Characteristics |
|
Deterrence
Cooperative
Collaborative
|
|
Program
Areas |
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Police
Traffic Services
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Type
of Jurisdiction |
|
City |
Targeted
Population |
| Young
Adults |
Jurisdiction
Size |
| 100,000 |
Funding |
|
402
Funds: $17,150
City
of Hartford Funds: 100 percent reimbursed
|
Contact |
Captain
Michael Fallon
Hartford Police Department
50 Jennings Road
Hartford, CT 06120
(860)
522-4888 ext. 6401
|
|
Digest
Listing
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CONNECTICUT
City of Hartford:
Operation Safe Streets
(PDF Version)
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Over
the last year, “cruising” activity on the Berlin Turnpike (Rt. 5 and 15) has increased. Cruising involves reckless driving,
spinning wheels and wheelies, racing, and improper/hazardous operation.
Hundreds of motoring enthusiasts attend cruising activities, which occur
regularly on Friday and Saturday nights. Motorcyclists often take part as
well, either together with motorists or independently. This illegal activity is further exacerbated by alcohol use before or
during the event. It accentuates the ever-present hazards and the
potential for serious mishaps.
When cruising incidents
increased, Hartford Police Department (HPD) took steps to proactively
restore order and maintain safe passage for motorists and pedestrians
traveling on the turnpike. HPD’s aggressive and effective enforcement
efforts greatly reduced the amount of activity on the turnpike.
Unfortunately, these efforts have displaced much of the activity from the
turnpike to city neighborhoods. Cruising now occurs primarily in the
city’s South Meadows and downtown neighborhoods. However, underground
organizers use the internet, police scanners, and the Nextel phone network
to counter police initiatives and move the activity from neighborhood to
neighborhood to avoid police action. Cruising activity often occurs during
peak call for service times, causing dispatchers to redeploy critical
resources to the affected areas to maintain order and public safety.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
City of Hartford’s
Operation Safe Streets traffic enforcement initiative seeks to reduce
or eliminate hazardous motor vehicle operation and the hazardous
conditions caused by cruising. The project’s objectives are to:
-
Identify specific times and areas affected by cruising;
- Use lawful, proven, and effective tactics when policing these areas;
- Arrest offenders for offenses such as speeding, reckless driving,
racing, drinking alcoholic beverages while driving, driving under the
influence of alcohol and/or drugs, hazardous moving violations, and
non-compliance with safety belt laws; and
- Coordinate enforcement efforts and collaborate with neighborhood
police departments to track and address displacement factors in the
city.
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
City of Hartford’s Operation
Safe Streets traffic enforcement initiative implemented the following
strategies and related activities to achieve its goals:
-
Created enforcement teams consisting of at least one
supervisor, three officers, and one HPD dispatcher
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Assigned personnel to enforcement teams on an overtime
and task specific basis
-
Employed the HPD's dispatcher to staff and monitor an
information channel to facilitate quicker license/registration checks and
ordering tow trucks, as needed, without impacting normal police operations
-
Gave HPD project director the authority to request
increases or decreases in manpower as needed depending on the situation, the
officers, and public safety (for example, holiday weekends, inclement weather,
and special event nights)
-
Held enforcement team personnel strictly accountable for
their productivity and statistical activity indicators documentation for each
deployment
-
Deployed motor vehicle enforcement teams to identified
neighborhoods on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and special days during
shifts between 2100 through 0400 hours, as determined based on cruising activity
patterns
-
Used the following tactics: laser/speed enforcement;
safety checkpoints (safety belts, equipment); intersection/mechanical signal
monitoring; omni-presence patrols; visual observation/probable cause stops,
marked and unmarked police vehicles
RESULTS
City of Hartford’s
Operation Safe Streets traffic enforcement initiative significantly
reduced racing and cruising activity. There has been some displacement of activity to Wednesday and
Thursday nights and sporadic nights on holiday weekends, beginning late in
the evening and continuing into the early morning hours. Although cruising
activity often occurs during peak “call for service” times, HPD was
able to issue the following violations to persons involved in cruising and
racing activities in the city of Hartford:
-
555
infractions
-
24 summonses
-
225
written warnings
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