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Morrisville police report 100-plus truck citations, detail hookah-bar enforcement
Summary
Police Chief Siampe told the borough council enforcement of a new truck ordinance has resulted in more than 100 citations and two dedicated enforcement details; the department also described a joint action that left a hookah bar temporarily uninhabitable and said Northpointe is funding a donated police Tahoe.
Police Chief Siampe reported to the Morrisville Borough Council that patrols and targeted enforcement of a recently enacted truck ordinance have produced “over 100 citations” and more than 200 interactions with truck drivers since the ordinance’s education phase began. He said the department has run two dedicated enforcement details in recent days and described the effort as education-then-enforcement to change driver behavior rather than raise revenue.
On enforcement specifics, the chief said the ordinance carries a $1,000 fine per violation and the borough has written a substantial number of citations during the enforcement phase. He told council that cooperation from private site managers has helped — noting he met with a FedEx site manager and that company representatives had been informing drivers of the rule change. When asked about the timing of most truck movements, the chief said late-night and early-morning hours (around 1:00 a.m.) had been common and that midnight-shift officers are monitoring those movements.
The chief also described a multiagency detail at a hookah bar on Dec. 28 involving police, code enforcement and the fire marshal. He said the inspection and enforcement actions resulted in “quite a few bar ordinances” and criminal complaints and that the establishment was labeled uninhabitable for the time being because of fire and code deficiencies. The chief emphasized there were no major injuries from that action.
Separately, the chief said the Pennsylvania State Police Chiefs Association approved the borough’s fingerprint-machine site inspection and staff are moving to order the machine. He also reported that Northpointe is funding a police Tahoe for the borough at no cost to taxpayers, and he expects delivery within a few days.
Council members and residents asked follow-up questions about repeat offenders, fee schedules for repeat violations, and whether courts could reduce the $1,000 fine; the chief said he understood the fine was fixed but deferred to the district judge’s discretion on reductions.
