http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.speeding3mar20,0,7475977.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Matt Breslow
Staff Writer
March 20, 2006
NORWALK -- Judgment week is here for speed demons who may have been getting a free ride.
After spiking in 2002, the number of speeding tickets issued by Norwalk police plummeted in 2003. In the past two years, the number remained well below the level at the start of the decade.
One reason is that police department ranks were reduced in 2003 because of a budget crisis. Also, an increase in youth violence and gang activity last year led police to form a special task force of mostly patrol officers, reducing the department's ability to enforce traffic laws, Chief Harry Rilling said.
But today is the start of "slow-down days," a weeklong program to launch an education and enforcement campaign. Extra officers will hit the streets looking for traffic violations.
But Rilling said enforcement is not enough to slow drivers. Besides education, he said, another factor is engineering, which the city is addressing through a long-range traffic plan.
"The biggest component is getting willing compliance from the public to obey the traffic laws," Rilling said. "Enforcement alone is never enough to make the streets of a community safe because a police officer is not there seven days a week, 24 hours a day in any location."
Drivers do not obey traffic laws as they once did, likely because there are many more cars on the road and people feel more hurried, the chief said.
Mayor Richard Moccia said that when he took office in November, he believed taxes would be the biggest complaint. But speeding drew the most complaints. Moccia said he's serious about addressing traffic problems.
The city will have at least three more weeks of slow-down days this year -- likely in June, when school ends; in September, when classes resume; and around the winter holidays.
According to police department statistics, Norwalk officers in 2000 issued 889 citations for speeding violations, such as traveling too fast for conditions and traveling unreasonably fast in a construction zone. The number rose to 902 in 2001 and 1,139 in 2002.
In 2003, police cited 305 drivers for speeding violations. They issued 496 citations in 2004 and 368 last year.
The department knew the issue needed attention, Rilling said, but officers were conducting motor vehicle enforcement every day.
The department will be able to do more selective enforcement this year. The proposed budget for next fiscal year includes money to hire three additional officers; and dispatch operations were taken over by civilians in January, making an extra patrol officer available during the day.
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