Lakeland Police Continue to Enforce Traffic Safety in School Zones

A recent Letter to the Editor urged the Lakeland Police Department to increase the fines for red light runners who get caught multiple times in a calendar year. While the concept seems appealing, traffic fines are established by the Legislature and not individual police departments. We simply note what the current fine is for various traffic violations and direct drivers to the Clerk's Office for payment of those fines.

Despite the fact it seems there is never a police officer around when you see someone run a red light, we are continuing our enforcement efforts all over the city and felt this was a good time to update the community on some of those initiatives.

The Traffic Unit worked school zones during the later part of April in an effort to promote a safe environment for students walking or riding bikes to school. In a one week period, officers wrote:

• 39 speeding citations
• 14 moving violations
• 7 citations for passing a stopped school bus
• 8 no seat belt violations
• 1 criminal traffic offense
• 5 non-moving violations

Officers also returned to Lakeland High School last Friday to enforce seat belt violations as part of our year-long commitment to educate high school students on the importance of wearing your seat belt. Citations numbers were very low, an indication that students are complying with the law (and we think that is a good thing). Officers only wrote:

• 9 seat belt violations
• 2 non-moving citations

As always, we encourage everyone to drive safely to ensure you and your loved ones arrive alive.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere