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Community Oriented Policing: An Approach to Traffic Management

NCJ Number
129961
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 39 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1991) Pages: 32-36
Author(s)
J Weston
Date Published
1991
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Although the Reno, Nevada, police force instituted a community oriented policing program in 1986, thereby improving its public image significantly, it ignored traffic management problems and focused instead on issuing large numbers of traffic citations as a means of raising municipal revenue. A flood of citizen complaints, coinciding with considerable input from three Neighborhood Advisory Groups, led the department to implement a new traffic program.
Abstract
The first step of the plan was the establishment of a 12-officer traffic team which was evaluated on the basis of traffic service requests completed rather than number of citations issued. A standard Service Request Form to document receipt of traffic-related complaints was designed and a warning citation system developed for issuance to drivers stopped for minor violations. Finally, a Mayor's Traffic Advisory Committee comprised of citizens, police officers, and traffic engineers was formed. As a result of the program, public satisfaction with the police department increased, the number of service requests grew, and the city engineering department became aware of and worked to resolve neighborhood traffic problems. Finally, neighborhood accident rates were calculated in order to create target selective enforcement locations.