Sunday, May 16, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

ROAD WARRIOR: Traffic enforcement ticket to slowing crime

Las Vegas police officer Craig Jex writes a traffic ticket for a driver who made an illegal U-turn at the corner of Flamingo and Paradise roads Thursday afternoon. Police here plan a traffic crackdown based on tactics that have worked for police in Peoria, Ill. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

Sometimes, big ideas come from small places.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's pending crackdown on bad drivers is one of those ideas. And the place from whence it came might surprise you.

It's based on what has worked in Peoria, Ill., a blue-collar river city where car crashes and violent crime were on the upswing in the mid-1990s. That's when police began taking a simple but often-overlooked premise as gospel:

If you're wearing a badge, you'll enforce traffic laws.

Not only has it kept the roads safe, the tactic has brought all sorts of criminals to justice. The Road Warrior saw that firsthand in a previous life, while reporting for a Peoria newspaper around that time. We'll get into that in a bit.

First, let's look at modern-day Las Vegas, where motorcycle-riding traffic cops run radar, squad car-driving patrol officers respond to crime calls, and rarely the twain shall meet, or so it seems. Especially before some idiot blows through a red light or hits a kid crossing the street.

"There's a mind-set in the community that motorcycles write tickets, and patrol officers do patrol work. We seem to take up some of those attributes," said Las Vegas Capt. Vincent Cannito. "We see some of the officers in patrol not as concerned about traffic enforcement because, frankly, they're busy" handling wife-beatings, shootings and such.

Cannito, who recently took charge of the department's traffic bureau, was looking for a solution. One of his officers came across a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study titled, "The Peoria Experience," and Cannito liked what he read.

In Peoria, amid rising crime and accident rates, police "re-emphasized traffic enforcement as a primary function and a tool for all Peoria police officers," the safety administration study stated. "It was a new way of doing business with an old tool."

As a result, from 1994 to 1996, car crashes fell by 21 percent, and drunken driving arrests increased by 11 percent, something the safety administration study credits to the tactic. It also had the side effect of helping put a lid on serious crime. Violent crimes fell by 10 percent and property crimes decreased by 12 percent.

"Though some debate may exist on the impact that traffic enforcement has on crime, it is generally accepted that an officer engaged in visible enforcement activities affects criminal behavior," the study said.

Simply stated, if people see cops writing tickets and running radar, as opposed to just driving around town, people are more apt to obey the law. And less crime meant fewer calls to overwhelm patrol cops.

"It's definitely a good tool," said Gary Poynter, acting Peoria police chief. "It does a lot of things. It gets people off the street who have no business being there."

In the 1990s, the results showed up every night on Peoria police arrest logs that listed bad guys who were nabbed because they failed to yield or changed lanes without signaling.

"With traffic stops we've been able to find guns, bank robbers and what have you," Poynter said.

Stopping erratic drivers can net the biggest of fish. An illegal U-turn six years ago led police to make Peoria's biggest drug bust ever and nip a startup drug operation before it could even start.

Another Peoria stop in early 2001 found a college student from Qatar acting oddly and carrying a cash-filled suitcase. That student, Ali al-Marri, was reported by police to the FBI, which investigated and later identified him as a sleeper middleman for the Sept. 11 terrorists.

He is now one of only three people jailed by presidential order as "enemy combatants."

That's no surprise to Cannito. "Look at Timothy McVeigh, Ted Bundy. Look at some of the people who have been caught in a traffic stop," he said.

The safety administration's Peoria report concluded: "Once the community and officers realized traffic enforcement was there to stay, a very definite trend emerged. Increased traffic enforcement led to decreased crashes and crime." And drivers could go back to griping about red lights that go on and on.

Cannito hopes for similar end results in the Las Vegas Valley, as traffic officers concentrate on major roadways and patrol officers enforce traffic rules in residential areas.

"When you see an officer, chances are you slow down. That's the deterrent effect," he said. "We're not looking for revenue or citations. We're looking to slow people down, modify driving behavior and save lives."

And he hopes Las Vegas cops will use their radar guns to get their share of Southern Nevada felons who drive to and from their crimes. "Bad guys get there somehow," Cannito said.

Cannito said he's not surprised that a glitzy global city like Las Vegas is finding answers from a town quietly tucked in amid middle America.

"The reality is the answer should never surprise you wherever it lies. Every agency in the law enforcement community has something to contribute to the overall crime picture," he said. "That's part of thinking globally."

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call

the Road Warrior at 387-2904, or e-mail him at roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com or OSofradzija@reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number.