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Resident urges more local traffic enforcement amid school commute concerns
Summary
A longtime resident told the board neighborhood streets need more focused patrols during school commute hours, arguing current highway enforcement leaves local streets under-policed. The police chief reported full staffing and defended current practices tied to warrants and camera systems.
During the general-comment period, Alan Beckett urged the board to prioritize street safety for students walking to and from school and criticized the practice of deploying officers on the highway instead of neighborhood streets during peak school commute times.
Beckett said he has lived in the community for more than 50 years and warned that residents are at risk: "It's a racetrack out here...I'm not going to stop until I get some concerns answered," he told the board, asking for accountability and more visible local enforcement near schools.
In the department report earlier in the meeting, the police chief said the department currently has full operational staffing (with recent field-training completions) and that highway stops often result from notifications tied to warrants or camera systems. The chief acknowledged community concerns about highway patrol placement while noting officers respond to a mix of proactive enforcement and directed investigations.
The board did not adopt immediate new enforcement policy; Beckett said he would continue to press the issue and indicated he may rally other residents to advocate for change.
Next steps: no formal direction was recorded; the board may consider traffic-enforcement priorities during upcoming budget and police-report discussions.
