Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cumberland police describe bus‑stop reviews and say camera program is reducing stop‑arm violations
Summary
Officer Joseph Parenteau described how police evaluate bus stops — reviewing sight lines, sidewalks and walking routes — and said bus camera footage has helped identify violations; reported monthly violations fell from 27 in September to 5 so far in December.
Officer Joseph Parenteau of the Cumberland Police Department's traffic division described how the department reviews school‑bus stops and follows up on safety concerns raised by families, Durham (transportation) or the district.
Parenteau said the police receive an Excel list of roughly 1,500 stops before the school year and screen it for issues such as traffic volume, street width, presence of sidewalks, sight distances, curves and obstructions. "We go to the residence where the kid is going to be leaving from, where they're gonna be walking home to," he said, and then walk and drive the route to see it from a motorist and pedestrian perspective.
The officer said there is no single rule that fits every roadway; reviews are case by case. He noted the department asks whether a child could be out of the road and said, "I look at it as would I let my child walk down there?" for perspective. When concerns remain after the department review, a hearing can be requested and the school committee can take the matter up for deeper review.
Parenteau said camera‑equipped buses have become an important enforcement tool. He said the department reviews short video segments flagged by the vendor to verify violations and that the town has seen a decline in flagged violations (27 in September, 20 in October, 11 in November and 5 so far in December). The department also tracks violation locations and has relocated problem stops in coordination with the school department and Durham when repeated violations clustered at specific sites.
Committee members raised winter conditions and sidewalk clearing as recurring concerns for student safety; Parenteau acknowledged snow can force children into the roadway and said the department considers that when reviewing routes but has limited capacity to police snow clearing. He said traffic grants are being used to allocate patrols to monitor roads with pedestrian improvements such as Angel Road's new bike lane.
