Giving the police department ‘too much credit?’
A police officer was set up with a radar gun outside Cromwell Valley Elementary School last week to enforce the 25 mph speed limit.
That spot was almost directly across Providence Road from where Police Chief Jim Johnson held a June 1 news conference to announce the county’s intentions to add the cameras to its speed enforcement arsenal. During that conference, almost on cue, a car sped by at a rate of speed clearly too fast for the road.
Johnson noted the speeding vehicle during his news conference.
That gives rise to the question of whether the radar enforcement was somewhat less than a coincidence.
So, are the radar traps near schools or in school zones part of an effort by the police department to gather additional information that could help decide where the speed cameras are placed?
Maybe, maybe not, according to Bill Toohey, a police spokesman.
Toohey said officers in precincts around the county are out enforcing speed limits near schools
because it’s the start of the school year. But he said it is possible some of the enforcement data could be used when it comes to looking at possible locations for the cameras.
But surely the spot near Cromwell had some meaning given it was close to the site selected for Johnson’s press conference … right?
Toohey said the spot outside Cromwell Valley Elementary School was selected, amongst other things, because it is very close (about a half-mile) to the Public Safety Building where Johnson’s office is located.
“I think you give us too much credit,” Toohey said.