More officers to hit village streets in January to stop excessive speeding.
By: Jessica Beym
To crack down on speeders in the village, the Cranbury police will be scheduling additional officers to patrol the streets as soon as January.
Township Committee members agreed Monday that speeding has been a persistent problem in town and police need to take additional measures, even if it means going into overtime hours.
"Obviously, this is a serious issue in town and we need to make people aware that this is going to happen," said Committeeman Tom Panconi.
At the township’s request, Chief Jay Hansen prepared a statistics report of traffic violations given over a six-week period from the end of September to the beginning of November. In that time, 38 speeding tickets were given in the village, 10 on North Main Street and nine on Plainsboro Road.
The highest speeds ticketed were on Main Street for 48 mph in a 25-mph zone, and on Plainsboro Road for 59 mph in a 25-mph limit.
Chief Hansen said they run the radar every day, but the study did not say how often. "We try to enforce the speed limit as strictly as possible," said Chief Hansen. "It’s impossible to give numbers with great specificity. If an officer is detailed to the village, he can be called away to another assignment."
Mr. Panconi said the police were well under their budgeted overtime allotment, and suggested that the department commit an additional officer to specifically run the radar. The township requires a minimum of two officers to be on patrol at any given time.
"I know you guys can’t be out there all the time, but we need another measure," said Committeeman David Stout.
Mr. Stout agreed that they would rather receive phone calls from residents upset about being ticketed then to continue to get phone calls from residents complaining that speeding is a persistent problem.
Chief Hansen said they plan to target roads in the village such as Main Street, Maplewood Avenue, and Plainsboro Road, specifically when people are rushing to work at 7 a.m.
Currently, the police set up decoy cars throughout town to scare speeders into slowing down, according to the township. This past weekend, police also set up a radar trailer on Main Street to display the drivers’ speeds, Committeeman Richard Stannard said.
"People have blatant disregard for the speed limit. It’s just not an issue to them," said Mr. Stout.
Chief Hansen added, "Well, we’ll make it one."