Appleton To Add Traffic Safety Police Unit

Appleton WI

06 April, 2022

7:33 PM

Description

From the City of Appleton: April 6, 2022 The City of Appleton is working to address reckless, inattentive driving and vehicle noise concerns with an approach that includes an Appleton Police Department (APD) Traffic Safety Unit pilot program and Department of Public Works (DPW) study on street design interventions. "We are taking on the issues of pedestrian and traffic safety and excessive vehicle noise in our City with a holistic approach," said Mayor Jake Woodford. "This means employing the 'Three Es' of education, enforcement, and engineering to improve the quality of life for our residents and visitors." Beginning June 1 through the end of the year, APD will employ a full-time Traffic Safety Officer as part of its Traffic Safety Unit pilot program to address concerns identified as top priorities from APD's Community Survey on Public Safety completed most recently in 2020. The Traffic Safety Unit and officer position will directly address safety and nuisance concerns such as speeding, reckless driving, inattentive or distracted driving, driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and aggressive cruising involving the use of disruptive vehicle equipment that pollutes natural air or sound environment. "Cruising and moving car shows have become almost weekly events in the summer, which drains our resources as they typically occur during our busy weekend nights," said Police Chief Todd Thomas. "When our officers are busy dealing with traffic problems or cruising events, they are pulled out of their districts and normal calls for service are not responded to as quickly." Previous state grant funding that allowed APD to deploy targeted patrols has seen success. For example, on a Saturday night in November of 2021, APD officers assigned to traffic safety initiatives conducted 26 traffic stops and enforced 16 loud or illegal exhaust violations within four hours. In addition to dedicated patrol, APD's traffic safety officer will field complaints and serve as a main point of contact for community members, working with them to strategize and address areas of concern, educate the community, and promote safe driving and pedestrian behavior. During the pilot program, feedback will be collected from the Alders, community members and fellow officers to determine if the position/program should be eliminated, continued as-is or expanded moving forward. See the full Traffic Safety Officer job description here. Additionally, the Appleton Common Council approved $75,000 to conduct a study that will review the effectiveness of existing pedestrian and vehicle safety features in the City, as well as outline future design interventions to address ongoing concerns. "We will be forming a cross-departmental team to help identify complete street-related issues such as pedestrian crossings, bike lanes, trails, neighborhood traffic calming and law enforcement," said Traffic Engineer Eric Lom. The safety engineering study is expected to be finalized by the end of 2022 or early 2023. Mayor Jake Woodford, Police Chief Todd Thomas and Traffic Engineer Eric Lom will be available for media tomorrow, April 7, 8:30 a.m. on the first floor of City Hall. This press release was produced by the City of Appleton. The views expressed here are the author's own.