Truck Accident News

TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT LEADS TO CRIMINAL ARRESTS

Routine traffic enforcement stops sometimes result in dramatic apprehension of wanted criminals. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol's arrest of Timothy McVeigh after the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City is one memorable example. He was stopped while speeding in a car that did not have license plates. While there are many anecdotal accounts of incidents where traffic officers significantly contribute to crime solutions, systematic studies are rare.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sponsored a review of the Grand Prairie, Texas, Police Department's activities for a five year period, 1990 through 1994. Grand Prairie has a rare, if not unique, feature of their record keeping system. That feature categorizes arrests by the initiating officer activity, such as traffic enforcement, patrol, or collision investigation. When the Grand Prairie Police Department implemented their computer systems in 1985, they decided they wanted a link between the dispatch system and the records management system. The original intent was to be able to tabulate the law enforcement effort devoted to specific neighborhoods to respond to citizen inquiries. 

As an element of this system, Grand Prairie police officers record codes on arrest reports to reflect the circumstances of the arrest. They record whether the arrest resulted from a dispatched call, officers' observation, or traffic enforcement stop. The

system can even distinguish between arrests made by routine traffic enforcement and those made by officers working a special overtime detail. The Grand Prairie police department's capability to identify arrests made as a consequence of traffic enforcement stops is extremely unusual.

Grand Prairie has a population of about 100,000 and is located midway between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. There are 170 sworn officers in the police department; of which 73 are patrol officers, 3 are dedicated to traffic enforcement, and 5 to collision investigations.

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	Did You Know?
	A driver can be disqualified for one year for a first time conviction of the following offenses while operating a commercial vehicle. Penalties can include: Driving under the influence of alcohol or any drugs; Driving with an alcohol concentration of .04 or more; Leaving the scene of an accident; Using a commercial vehicle in the commission of a felony; or Refusing to take a blood alcohol test. If convicted of any of the above while operating a vehicle placarded for hazardous materials, the disqualification increases to three years.