City may shell out to beef up road patrol

The council will consider spending more than $70,000 for safer streets. The money would pay for a new deputy and traffic control equipment.

By MAUREEN BYRNE

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 12, 2001

SEMINOLE -- Seminole wants to get tough on traffic offenders.

The City Council will decide tonight whether to spend $71,769 to establish a traffic safety program that would provide one full-time traffic patrol deputy, laser and radar units for existing deputies, and a "smart trailer" with a computer that registers traffic speed and volume.

If the ordinance is approved on its second reading June 26, the program would begin July 1.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which provides police services for Seminole, would operate the program. The city would purchase and maintain the equipment, which would be used exclusively in Seminole.

"The sole purpose is to try to make our streets safer," said City Manager Frank Edmunds. "The deputy's primary function will be to enforce traffic rules: speed limits, stop signs, traffic lights."

Traffic woes seem to be on the minds of many who live in Seminole. And city leaders say they are responding to residents' concerns. At a retreat in March, council members decided that traffic enforcement is one of the city's top priorities.

Records from the sheriff's office show the number of accident reports in the city jumped from 354 in 1999 to 474 in 2000.

"This position isn't just going to be about writing traffic tickets in the city," said Lt. Gary Herbein of the sheriff's office. "We do that pretty well now."

Instead, he said, the new deputy would spend time at critical traffic areas and help determine how best to improve traffic flow in the city.

Except for major incidents, Herbein said, the deputy would not respond to normal calls.

In addition to the smart trailer, which contains a computer that logs the speed and volume of cars and shows passing motorists their speed and the local speed limit, the city will purchase laser and radar units that also will be used by existing deputies.

The city would pay for the program, which would run July 1 through Sept. 30, with money from its reserves fund. City officials plan to budget the program for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Edmunds has applied for a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation to help pay for the program. If awarded, the grant would cover its annual cost, which would be about $50,000, Edmunds said.

The city plans to inform residents about the new traffic program in its biannual newsletter, which will be mailed in early July.

"There is definitely going to be a heightened awareness for traffic safety in our community," Edmunds said.

- Staff writer Maureen Byrne can be reached at 445-4163.

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