Got an Opinion About Decatur’s Level of Traffic Enforcement?
Decatur Metro | February 22, 2012Apparently the City is posting the three extra questions on the currently in-the-field Citizen Survey on the Open City Hall website. Here’s the second one…
Do you think that the current level of traffic enforcement by the Decatur Police Department is too little, too much or about right?
38 people have replied so far.
Don’t mind me. I’m just going to back slowly out of this virtual room. (Clop, clop, clop…scamper, scamper, scamper)
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oh boy…let the games begin!
this should be good…
It’s funny. Usually when someone says this at the top of the thread, it kills the comments. But don’t feel guilty, I did it in the post too! That will usually kill comments as well.
Even the posts at Open City Hall are pretty tame. Mostly just pet peeve kind of stuff. If you want a post that creates a stir, say something about Wal-mart cutting down a tree.
If a tree falls to build a WalMart, will anyone hear it? Or will the incessant drone of all of the obese suburbanites shopping whilst chomping their Chee-tos and slurping their corn syrup sodas drown it out?
this surprises me because there are more rants about decatur pd on a random free-for-all-friday..here is a post dedicated to “tell us how you really feel” and the comments are skimpy…c’mon people!
(attempt to re-stir the already stirred pot)
I think over the past year or so there have easily been at least a couple hundred comments about cars/traffic/bikes and perhaps it’s just fizzled like the oh so fun topic of little ones in restaurants.
But I did learn a couple of items of note after reading the survey comments. Something about Decatur having gang activity on the same level as Los Angeles, and that police are stopping citizens and detaining them without cause. Hmmm…
And reading the survey comments for both tree and cycle topics, I’m just amazed at how many people seem to absolutely crave more government involvement in their lives. Being concerned about speeders is one thing, but the suggestion that cyclists need to pass tests and apply for a license in order to ride a bike is just mystifying. Paranoia for some, has overtaken all common sense.
No, to get a stir try this headline:
“Phyllis Edwards decides to cut down trees on Westchester property to make way for Dollar General and additional parking.”
If CSD staff have kept lists of suspected identities of DM posters, so could law enforcement! That possibility could dampen enthusiasm for posting!
From where I sit on my front porch, I see DPD breaking a lot of the laws they’re paid to enforce. Speeding. Failure to come to a complete stop at stop signs. Accelerating through intersections as traffic lights go from yellow to red.
Not to mention the number of them who I see using a cell phone while driving.Which, to a cyclist, is terrifying.
Hell to the yes. Fight the power.
I live right on Church and can hear traffic zoom by at all hours. This includes large tractor trailers very, very early in the morning. But I have noticed more traps around the park entrance lately. So I guess that’s good.
I did see this the other day when I was leaving the parking deck: It was just after 6pm, and an officer (in the fancy new Dodge/traffic patrol car) was parked in front of the Laurus Tech. Institute, facing oncoming traffic (cars slowing to get over and get around him) chatting with a pedestrian. No lights – no apparent emergency. It just seemed dangerous, or inconsiderate at best.
Writing tickets is great, but so is setting a good example.
The ” fancy new Dodge/traffic patrol car” is actually about 2 years old.
Granted that maybe he should have the light bar on if he was in a traffic lane, but it’s entirely possible that he was flagged by the pedestrian and pulled over to see what he/she wanted. Maybe they were complaining about traffic on Church St.
Right. ” Fancy, about 2 year old Dodge/traffic patrol car.” Thank you Steve.
Here’s hoping we get the same benefit of the doubt from the officer if we’re ever pulled over.
I was once pulled over by DPD for blowing past a crossing guard. The officer claimed she had signaled for me to stop, but I swear to this day she was just waving hello.
I was let off with a warning.
One of the hazards of living in a.friendly town, I guess.
If Church St. is a school zone (by Glenlake pool), shouldn’t it have a crossing guard?
But it’s a pool. Not a school. The school is on Ponce.
The school zone is for Clairemont Elementary School.
Do kids still cross Church to get to Clairemont or Glennwood Elementary? I was thinking that the opening of the new Glennwood K-3 obviated the need to cross Church for K-3 elementary. Or maybe children still cross it to get to FAVE, Renfroe, or DHS?
Pool Zone, then?
I was once pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt (I know! I know!) after dropping my daughter off at Fernbank. I was very pleased to find the citation was only $15 and to pay it online only $2 more. Place me firmly in the “just about right” category.
Officer…..six beers is just not that much.
I got a ticket for running a red light on my bike. I stopped, and there were no cars in sight, but yeah, I broke the law. I was pissed, but at least it feels good to know I live in a town where that kind of thing matters.
I think the level of enforcement is enough. That being said, no amount of police can handle the level of entitlement some drivers/cyclists/pedestrians feel.
How about we have a program where school kids make signs for particular intersections, then we make a fun event out of them holding them up at those locations. For example, at E. Ponce & Commerce or Clairemont & Scott, the signs would say, “I’m in Kindergarten, and even I know that you should look before you turn.”
DPD could haul in some serious cash if they would set up a trap in front of my house on S. Candler Street aka Decatur City Speedway. I would even supply them with lemonade or hot coffee, year round. I promise.
So the police were shooting radar on Candler today between College and Bucher. A little overkill! Total waste of taxpayer dollars. Also the officer rolled through the stop sign.
Why don’t they monitor the traffic on college and McDonough so we don’t have to make left turns on the red light.
Perhaps middle-aged folks have had good experiences with the Decatur PD, but myself and my friends – all twenty-somethings who live in Decatur and pay our taxes on time – have been harassed, targeted, and in some cases abused by them.
I will not get into the details of my friend’s experience of being the victim of an off-duty and out-of-uniform cop’s road rage, but will note that among other things, the officer flashed his badge and threatened my friend.
One of the more mild examples is from my time as a student at Agnes Scott. I was trekking from the campus library to my apartment in Avery Glen around 2AM with a heavy backpack of books when I saw a police cruiser pass me going the opposite direction, whip around, and drive up next to me with its sirens and lights on.
The officer then interrogated me for several minutes about who I was, what I was doing out at 2AM next to the ASC campus (uhm, walking home from the library, is what!), what’s my name, where do I live (right there, officer!), what was in my overstuffed backpack (many, many books of literary criticism. From the library. Where I was studying), demanded multiple forms of ID, and ultimately contacted the ASC police to verify my status as a student – apparently having the same name and birth date on both my state issued ID and my student ID was not sufficient.
Before any police apologists jump in and say that the Decatur PD were just trying to ensure the safety of ASC students (which, by the way, is more the domain of the ASC Police, is it not?), stopping to ask a lone person on foot at 2 AM what they’re up to is one thing – intimidation in the form of interrogation, multiple identity checks, and flashing lights and blazing sirens is another.
Furthermore, what happened to ‘probable cause’? Or is walking home alone at 2 AM with a bag of library books now considered suspicious?
Did you file a complaint with Decatur PD?
This is, unfortunately, consistent with what I know about DPD in recent years. We have lived here 30+ years, and it truly was different ‘back in the day’. And Steve, I would never file a complaint, because that would just ask for more police attention. I know people who have experienced it.
I’m having a hard time reconciling our excellent experiences with Decatur Police vs. the above. But I’ve heard similar complaints and so perhaps DPD does real well in some areas but there’s room for improvement in others. We have been extremely pleased whenever we have reported a property or identify theft–immediate and compassionate help at our home. Also pleased with responses to accidents, home checks while away, the interaction of the police as community workers with our elementary students, and with enforcing speed limits around the schools. And the few times over the years when I’ve been stopped and/or ticketed for traffic violations, I deserved the enforcement, appreciated the “learning experience”, and was treated respectfully. However, I have heard of practices or incidents that worry me, mostly related to the high school oddly enough. Maybe DPD does react differently to situations related to younger adults and teens. I’m no 20-something so I wouldn’t have the same experience. Maybe the police are sensitized by the types of crime they see in that age group resulting in practices or a culture that profiles by age (and I’ll bet by male sex), at least functionally if not officially. This is a tough one–I want my community and schools as safe as possible but do not want any residents to feel profiled or treated inconsistently or unfairly.
There’s a comment on the site about someone getting a ticket for cutting through their own neighborhood to get home. I wasn’t aware that was happening. Can someone explain?
How bout some old fashioned warnings handed out for a week or so when a major change is made? I know it was crazy on my street when they switched from four lanes to two. Some not so expensive educational enforcement would have made the learning curve a lot quicker for everyone. And there are still a lot of people that think the bike lane is for passing or making a right turn onto Adair.
I have inquired about the speeding issue with the Decatur PD. Apparently officers can only use their lights and sirens for certain calls and traffic stops. I spoke with an officer who told me they try to respond to calls ( like alarm calls) quickly, but their policy prevents them from using their lights and sirens. He even stated he has been screamed at by citizens to “slow down” when he is trying to get to a call. Apparently not all officers are just abusing their powers. If I’m in jeporady, I don’t want the PD doing the speed limit to get to me.