Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau is announcing that some 250 law enforcement agencies from around the state will be on the roads beginning March 15th and continuing through March 18th for this year’s second special Traffic Enforcement Program (sTEP) wave. They will be looking not only for drunk drivers and safety belt violators but for all traffic violations.
With the record number of traffic fatalities (59) that occurred this January and February, officers will be stepping up their enforcement activity in hopes of slowing down that trend throughout the rest of the year. Of the 59 fatalities in the last two months, 30% or 17 were unbelted and 8 were identified as unknown.
Iowa’s sTEP Coordinator Randy Hunefeld advised that all law enforcement agencies in the state, whether big or small, need to be proactive with their traffic safety efforts and constantly continue to educate and enforce traffic laws to change driver behavior.
In 2011, Iowa recorded 363 traffic fatalities. This is a 66-year record low, yet it represents nearly one life lost each and every day. While this decreased number is far better than the 412 fatalities Iowa averaged during the previous five years, it is still an enormous tragedy, especially if one of those fatality victims was near and dear to you.
According to Hunefeld, during last year’s March 2011 sTEP enforcement wave there were 242 participating agencies (167 city police departments, 72 counties sheriffs’ offices and three state agencies) that reported activity resulting in 18,284 traffic citations and warnings being issued.
The next sTEP enforcement wave will be May 21 – June 3, 2012, during the National Click It or Ticket campaign.
This whole issue is about public safety in a world of people who have seemingly forgotten what safety is. If one behaves as a law-abiding citizen should, one would have no fear of being stopped for speeding or any other moving traffic violation. If you want to play roulette with your life and those of others be prepared to pay the price, one way or another; be it fines, damages, loss of property, loss of wealth through litigation, loss of health and well being through injury, loss of well being through causing another’s death, or loss of one’s own life. Make up your mind how you wish to behave, and then be able to live your life in peace and tranquility by making that correct decision.
And for qualification: I lost my mother and her good friend in February because they weren’t wearing their seat belts. And my youngest sister is complaining about the speeding ticket she received this week.
They did bring out the noise meter this past weekend for some reason. What we need in Mason City is a regular traffic detail, 1600 hours to 2200 hours daily.
I do appreciate the police but they have forgotten the slogan to protect and SERVE! They arrest people walking a couple of blocks from the bar to home for public intox. Against the law? Yes but who are they hurting? when I was young they would give you a ride to make sure you got home safe. Now they harrass people for no reason and write tickets! A few years ago Texas was arresting people in hotel bars for public intox. Were they endangering the public on the way to the room?
If you feel like you are just a revenue source to LE then cut em where it hurts.
Don’t call 911:
When someone is lurking around your neighbors house about to rob it, cause they will be back next week to rob yours.
When someone is driving drunk and is about to kill an innocent person.
When a child/adult you know is being abused or molested.
When you suspect that house down the street is a crack house.
and also, don’t be a dumbass by speeding, texting while driving, drinking while driving, not restraining a child in a car properly, being publically intoxicated, doing illegal drugs, beating your spouse, stealing from someone else… I think you get the idea… actually you probably don’t.
… how about you obey the laws and you wouldnt have to pay a fine! Wow, what a concept! Just like the speed cameras… dont speed, no ticket! Why do people always have to blame someone else for being an idiot?
Automate and outsource law enforcement to the private sector. That is a recipe for disaster. I however would go for each and every citizen having a camera/camcorder and be allowed to submit evidence for fining the scads of moronic drivers (no signal on lane chance, running stop signs, tailgating, etc) that I see every day.
Amen, brother, local and state have both been told to increase tickets. If you have a friend in enforcement, just ask them, they will probably tell you the truth. You are NOTHING more than a revenue sorce to them. Period
Dear Observer…If you are trapped and need help the fire dept will do the job, not the police. Law Enforcement is the biggest waste of tax dollars that exists today. Police cannot protect you from anything. The major job they do is harassing honest people over driving infractions because they need to increase the general fund for their own welfare and benefits. I agree some people are so discourteous in driving that they merit some type of corrective action. But why do you have to pay a fine to the gov employees fund instead of doing community action for the benefit of everyone? Are the police really protecting society? No! You are more likely to be harmed by someone hiding behind a badge than any other source in this country. Wake up; your life may depend on your abilities and not on government employees. They do not have you in their interests…only your money! They cannot exist without you…but they tell you how important they are, especially at election time.
Thank you for opening the door. Over the years, I have witnessed Police along with Firemen, helping in rescue efforts where I have lived. Let me list a few for you:
1972: I had gotten off a bus at Marquette Park, when an airplane crashed into homes. It was not just Firemen running house to house and through the remains of the 737, but Police a well. Police were first on the scene.
1985: A fire in a home at 123rd and Maple, produced two deaths. It could have been many more had it not been for the actions of Blue Island Police officers, first on the scene, who led adults and children to safety as Firemen were just arriving.
1987: Two girls were out on a bike ride along 123rd street in Alsip. They both stopped for a train on the crossing. When one train cleared, a second one came along on the other track. One girl did not see it. When I arrived, it was both Police and Firemen, with large plastic trash bags collecting the remains, scattered several blocks.
1993: I can plainly say, without hesitation, was the most horrific thing I had ever seen, Police and Firemen removing passengers from two trains that had collided in Gary, IN, down a snowy steep embankment, and to safety. I can plainly see in my mind, a woman in the arms of an office as he snaked their way down the embankment. I can hear him trying to calm her as she bled onto his clothes.
2006: Police arrived at a house fire and went inside the building to rescue people inside. As Firemen arrived, the Police continued to assist getting a person onto a stretcher who was suffering from smoke inhalation.
Have you forgotten October, 2010? I was not there, but we all saw the photos plainly as Police and Firemen were wading through the Winnebago after a car landed in it upside-down.
These women and men did not HIDE behind a badge. That badge meant NOTHING in the face of what was before them. A duty to their fellow citizens. I am awake sir, and so are many others who have made the same observations in life. These are not freak occurrences.
Get away from your anti-government, conspiracy laced mind and open your bloody eyes. Use your head for more than a hat rack. Our Police are not perfect, but they sure are better than nothing. And that’s why so many are more than glad to pay for their service.
I read the police blotter most days and I know they do help and protect a lot of people. They helped out in a case I know about recently and were there very quickly in a volatile situation. You won’t read articles about the unsung things they do every day to help people out.
From the comments here, you folks are pretty naive about the job of being a Law Enforcement Officer.
As well, if you would only observe for some period of time traffic habits in the city, you would easily come to the conclusion that enforcement is required, far more than we currently have. People who do not harness their children, or use seat belts themselves, reckless drivers (not limited to autos, but pick ups and motorcycles), traffic light violators, gross speeding, excessive noise (motorcycles and one black Hummer from Worth County), and driving the wrong way on one-way streets. People must think they are exempt from our laws. In reality, there is no reason for it at all! And that is what we pay LEO’s to do, Enforce!
And to complain about their rates of pay and benefits, is again quite unrealistic. Theses people are spit upon, bitten, threatened with bodily harm, kicked, pushed, cursed, and baited almost daily if not more. They have to know law, how it is applied, the science of evidence (legally and physically), have above average driving skills, have proficiency with fire arms, display integrity, use common sense, and sometimes, have the wisdom of Solomon. Perfect? Hardly.
But so many of you do not know, because you do not bother to find out. Your bias and stereotypes cloud your logic. Stuck in a paradigm, you refuse to admit, they have a difficult job at times, and exhibit a lot more than perhaps you could muster.
Let me put it more bluntly, if I was disabled in a burning house, I could depend on that collective group to help me. As for the naysayers, most would remain on the curb, cowering! I have seen it often enough to know it as a truism.
Well said…
Bravo.
Wouldn’t like to have a job where you only have to work hard one weekend every three months?
I love these periodic announcements: Hey public, lookout, cause this weekend we’re really gonna get and their and do our jobs. LOL
Yes, they do get to keep the money!!! Its calle dhuge wages and out of control benefit packages. They absolutly keep the money. you are only a revenue source to them.
So I have to violate a traffic law BEFORE they get paid? No. They are doing their jobs.
Yes they want $. Greedy bastards.
So these people get crap for doing their job like they get to KEEP the fine money?
Safety is the excuse. Money is the reason.
Evidently you missed the statistics on Iowa’s traffic fatalities in the article. I counted the words “fatality” and “fatalities” used in it 1 and 4 times respectively. I also saw the word “safety” used in the article as well.