|
Post by Cop Watcher on Apr 25, 2007 12:30:30 GMT -4
Last night at 9:30 PM, I came over the rt50n overpass from Chester. There was a Sheriff in the bank parking lot @ Castle Marina Rd and Rt18,by the traffic circle, he was shooting radar! This is absolutely pathetic. Be careful locals, they are EVERYWHERE!
|
|
|
Post by baycitydan on Apr 25, 2007 12:33:58 GMT -4
That's a regular speed trap. The speed limit is 30MPH on a wide road, down a hill. Perfect fishing spot to nab speeders and apparently a D.U.I. hotspot grabbing the Queen's Landing / Bayside residents coming home from bars.
|
|
|
Post by Same Deputy on Apr 25, 2007 14:00:51 GMT -4
Boy the nerve of us cops. Imagine the police trying to reduce the number of drunk driving offenders. The police are taking proactive measures to make sure incident motorists are not injured or worse killed by those drunk drivers. How dare we perform this public service? What is this country coming too? What should the police do if were not going to enforce the motor vehicle laws such as drunk driving, exceeding maximum speed, etc? I know, the police should go after those drug dealers. Wait, but we can’t do that. Then were harassing the citizens and you don’t want us doing that or traffic enforcement, which is where the majority of the drug arrests are made. Maybe the police should do nothing, perhaps let crime run wild and let the criminals do as they please to you and your family members. By the way, running radar on Route 18 and Castle Marina Road is not a new thing and in fact we have been running radar there for years.
|
|
|
Post by baycitydan on Apr 25, 2007 14:13:20 GMT -4
Dude, chill out. I didn't mean that at all. Laws are there for a reason and it's your job to enforce them. We get it. Move along now.
|
|
|
Post by highlander73 on Apr 25, 2007 14:16:12 GMT -4
Boy the nerve of us cops. Imagine the police trying to reduce the number of drunk driving offenders. The police are taking proactive measures to make sure incident motorists are not injured or worse killed by those drunk drivers. How dare we perform this public service? What is this country coming too? What should the police do if were not going to enforce the motor vehicle laws such as drunk driving, exceeding maximum speed, etc? I know, the police should go after those drug dealers. Wait, but we can’t do that. Then were harassing the citizens and you don’t want us doing that or traffic enforcement, which is where the majority of the drug arrests are made. Maybe the police should do nothing, perhaps let crime run wild and let the criminals do as they please to you and your family members. By the way, running radar on Route 18 and Castle Marina Road is not a new thing and in fact we have been running radar there for years. I agree. OH MY GOD... I agree with the Deputy....d**n......this is not good. I still don't believe this guy is a cop by any means, but he's right in his sarcastic tone.
|
|
|
Post by lynn on Apr 25, 2007 15:39:23 GMT -4
You may think its pathetic, but for families who have children this is really necessary. I live in Castle Marina and we have so many people speeding through the neighborhood. Several of my neighbors and I have called the police various times to ask them to come sit in our neighborhoods.
We really need it bad here. We have so many kids in the neighborhood as well as a couple of deaf children. So many people just ignore the "deaf child" and "children playing" signs. There are a couple young guys who live in QL that always speed in and out.
People aren't just going a couple over the limit here, many are doing 10 or more over. Quite a few of these people don't slow down one bit when they see someone walking on the streets often with their dogs or children in strollers!
|
|
|
Post by mikey on Apr 25, 2007 16:28:30 GMT -4
Lynn, you are absolutely right. It is necessary to watch out for the speeders tearing through the neighborhoods. I have them going 60 in front of my house all the time, with my kids playing in the front yard.
But this wasn’t in a neighborhood. Between the MTA police, State police and Sheriffs, Kent Island must be the most heavily ticketed area in Maryland.
|
|
|
Post by shoreman on Apr 25, 2007 17:07:20 GMT -4
I think the original post was that they are working radar checking traffic coming from Chester overpass towards the circle, NOT in the Castle Marina development itself.
I do think that the speed limit is appropriate for that area but not in that direction. In the opposite direction it is needed because of the traffic turning from Postal Road onto west bound Route 18 to travel over the over pass does not have a lot of time if the cars coming over the overpass are speeding. I have seen many accidents at that intersection and I agree that speed limits need to be enforced in the neighborhoods also.
The police cars have radar which can be used while the car in moving which means the Deputy could patrol AND work radar at the same time. (imagine that, multi-tasking)
Unfortunately, just sitting and working radar is the easiest part of the job.
Actually, I take that back, sitting and typing on the County funded laptop computer to the internet while they are suppose to be working and solving Felonious Burglary & $22,000.00 Vandalism (thank you Pete) cases is actually the easiest thing to do.
All the more reason that this so called "deputy" is not the real deal anyway.
|
|
|
Post by Same Deputy on Apr 25, 2007 17:20:15 GMT -4
Clearly there are writers on here who see the big picture of what the police do and for this I'm thankful. Yes there are many police out on route 50 which are made up of officers primarily from the MTDA Police (Bridge Police) and State Police. The greatest and largest speeding threat to the public are those motorists that are traveling on county roads, such places as the housing developments. Examples would be Cloverfields, Bay City, Marling Farms, Tower Gardens, Queens Landing, Harbor View, etc. Only the county sheriff’s deputies run traffic enforcement in these areas. Try calling the State Police about a speeding complaint not on route 50 or 301 and see if they address the issue. There may be a lot of tickets being issued but I believe they’re not being issued in the right places. Places where children are, folks walking their pets, people riding their bicycles. Children are not playing tag or street hockey out on route 50. They’re in the community and developments. That’s where law enforcement should concentrate their efforts during certain hours of the day. At night time, get those drunk drivers who cause serious injury or worse kill innocent motorists and pedestrians.
|
|
|
Post by shoreman on Apr 25, 2007 17:28:57 GMT -4
Oh yes, and I have in fact called about speeding in our neighborhood and the state police did in fact come out and help us out tremendously.
As a matter of record, I called the Sheriff's Department first and they said they would have someone call me back and guess what, they did not.
In another case, myself and several of my neighbors had the same problem last year with numerous mailboxes being destroyed. Same problem again when I called the Sheriff's Department, they did not respond. One of my neighbors in turn called the State Police who had a Trooper come out and yes, did find and arrest the kids who were responsible.
When I called then Commissioner Koval about this, he gave me the same old line we all hear when it comes to the Sheriff's Deparment; "there is nothing I can do, the Sheriff is elected".
|
|
|
Post by bchevy on Apr 25, 2007 18:18:00 GMT -4
Kudos to the real deputies for doing their job. I have invited them, and still would invite them to park in my driveway ANYTIME to catch these jerks flying by my house.
If you're in that big of a hurry, LEAVE EARLIER
I do still disagree with the 5am guys hiding in the shadows trying to catch the workin' man.
|
|
|
Post by outlaw on Apr 25, 2007 18:36:03 GMT -4
If the K-Hov development (barf) gets built, traffic in the circle of doom will probably slow to a crawl anyway. As it is now, I feel like I'm tempting fate by making a left from 18 onto the overpass. Seems better to make a right on 50 and go around and then avoid those people trying to make that left and then avoid the cops hanging around at the bottom of the hill.
|
|
|
Post by Mike on Apr 25, 2007 18:37:31 GMT -4
This isn't a speed TRAP, it's called pulling radar in their jurisdiction.
|
|
|
Post by lynn on Apr 25, 2007 21:30:01 GMT -4
Ah, yes, the original post was talking about the radar going into the circle from coming down the hill! I voted for Hoffman because he stated he would take as many people off rt 50 as he could and put them in the neighborhoods (he also seems like a nice guy). Bchevy, I've done the same thing and invited them to park in front of my house! I'll even cook them dinner if they ever take me up on it!
|
|
|
Post by shoreman on Apr 25, 2007 21:39:45 GMT -4
Problem is, most of the time I see them, they have cars stopped along 301? I agree, nice guy but nice doesn't mean he knows police work.
Like I've said before, it's a popularity contest. It's a shame the Sheriff is elected on his smile and not his experience. I just hope and pray his smile gets him through our escalating crime rate.
I just want accountability that's all. One thing is for sure, we don't have it now.
|
|
|
Post by allison on Apr 26, 2007 20:52:17 GMT -4
please I live in Historic Stevensville. I would like to know where are our speed traps. The people come around that curve and hit the accelerator, its ridiculous. I never see a cop sitting out across from Love Point. If you guys sat out there every once in a while maybe people would get scared and slow down. I have a five year old and we have a fence like a fortress, just because of the spped people drive down that road, especially the high school students.
|
|
|
Post by falgar25 on Apr 26, 2007 21:47:47 GMT -4
Have you noticed how wherever the cops are, they're targetting locals and should really be somewhere else? If they're on the circle they should be in the neighborhoods. If they're in the neighborhoods they're targetting locals and should be out where the tourists are. If they're on 50 then they're wasting time and should be somewhere on Main St. No matter where they are, they should be someplace else.
I would wish for no speed traps, checkpoints, whatever-you-call-it at all. But at least recognize that no matter where they are, someone is going to be unhappy.
I also noticed a number of messages mentioning kids, dogs, strollers, fences, etc. I grew up on a road as busy as 8 or 18. Perhaps we were more observant in our town because we quickly learned that the cars were on the road and not on the grass. So, we stayed on the grass and out of the road. How about teaching your kids and dogs to stay out of the road? How about pushing the stroller on the side of the road while walking towards oncoming traffic so you can see it and move to the shoulder if necessary? I'm going to assume your fence will behave and stay in its yard anyway.
People complain about the maniacs who speed down their street, but no one has mentioned any vehicles that have left the roadway and damaged any person or property. I'm not foolish enough to believe it hasn't or won't happen, or that speed won't be a factor, but speed-related accidents in neighborhoods are apparently not that common.
|
|
|
Post by shoreterp on Apr 27, 2007 7:09:48 GMT -4
The cops target areas where they know they can write a lot of tickets in a short period of time. It's all about revenue pure and simple. Rt 18 near the traffic circle is not a residential area, and is not a pedestrian area. It's a place where the speed limit is set too low and where virtually everyone speeds. Therefore it's a good spot to make lots of money for the QAC Government. I love that every year tax payers fund more and more cops for the QAC Sherriff's Dept and then the only result is more cops sitting on the side of the road writting tickets. If there's nothing to keep them busy, put them on the streets walking neighborhoods, meeting locals and discussing their concerns with them. Sitting on the side of the road locked in a cruiser does nothing to address the safety concerns of local residents. If you took a poll of Kent Island residents, I don't think "speeding on Rt 18 near the traffic circle" would rank in the top 20!
|
|
|
Post by Frank on Apr 27, 2007 7:41:32 GMT -4
Why not install speed bumps? Cars that are low to the ground hate those, but they work. They were installed in my last community, and stopped all the Nascar want-a-be's from racing through the neighborhoods. No tickets, no revenue, just slowing people down.
|
|
|
Post by kl on Apr 27, 2007 8:03:30 GMT -4
The police are taking proactive measures to make sure incident motorists are not injured or worse killed by those drunk drivers. ? We really do need to make sure those incident dri.. Hold on a sec? What Da fu!!!!
|
|
|
Post by mikey on Apr 27, 2007 8:33:01 GMT -4
Dang, falger. I hadn't thought of that.
Forget my complaint of cars going 60 down my street with kids playing in the neighborhood. Ill just tell them all to stay on the grass.
falger has solved the problem.
|
|
|
Post by falgar25 on Apr 27, 2007 8:48:22 GMT -4
Sarcasm aside, it worked for us.
Heard of one kid hit by a car growing up: he decided to play chicken (his bicycle against a passing car) to see if he could make the car lock up its tires and stop in time.... he lost. Car vs. bicycyle - car wins every time. Had the kid chosen to ride in his own lane, stay on the sidewalk, simply not do something stupid then I'd be writing that I never heard of even one kid being hit by a car growing up.
If 60 mph is too fast, then what is a safe speed for a car to be going when you walk out in front of it? Me, I'd just choose not to walk out in front of it.
Maybe I'm just lucky. Guess I'll go by a lottery ticket tonight.
|
|
|
Post by Brooke on Apr 27, 2007 9:41:16 GMT -4
I'm sorry but the Sheriffs Dept. is not prepared to handle the speeders in neighborhoods. I called their Community Relations Dept. or whatever it was and asked for a little more presence in our neighborhood to prevent speeders. They told me they would be glad to help but they only had one traffice calming device which was broken. The device was one of the radar signs that flash your speed. Anyway, how are they going to solve speeding in the neighborhood if they have only one device. I know this isn't the deputies fault but they need to speak up to get the funding or manage their budget better so they can afford more devices.
|
|
|
Post by shorti on Apr 27, 2007 9:51:30 GMT -4
Here's a switch for me... Pete you'd be proud I'm sure... I live off old love point road - and the kids drive like freaking idiots! I wish there were more cops around to catch them. I can hear them flying up to a stop sign and then they peel out as they are making the turn... one of them actually ran over one of the green phone boxes that was in front of a neighbor of mine a few doors up. Granted when I was a teen i drove like an idiot too i'm sure... but not in a neighborhood... i watched my sister get hit by a car driven by a teen - driving like an idiot in a neighborhood and I was only 6 - this scared me straight that's for sure! I have kids and they ride their bikes along the side of that road to get into the actual "neighborhood" to see their friends... it scares me everytime one of them leaves... The police need to have more of a presence in our community rather than on 50... not too many pedestrians on 50 if you know what i mean... but stopping someone for doing 60-65 and keeping up with the flow of traffic - at least to me - isn't as important as stopping someone from driving 50 in a 25-30 residential area and putting my kids at risk! Just my 2 cents
|
|
|
Post by Frank on Apr 27, 2007 11:01:38 GMT -4
I agree with you completely, Shorti. Police presence in the neighborhoods would also help reduce crime in the area as well. If people who speed through neighborhoods, throw trash out the window, drink in public, spray paint grafitti, peek in windows, or vandalize homes are aware the police come through certain neighborhoods on a regular basis, they will go somewhere else.
|
|