Police, Traffic & Public Safety Committee

Town of University Park Council Committee on Police, Traffic and Public Safety February 8, 2023 7:30 p.m. Meeting Notes Members Present: Gathercole, Morgan, McGaughey, Wells, Sweet Agenda Ongoing Business: 1. The January 11, 2023 meeting notes were approved. 2. Chief Baker reported on the speed radar camera data from Van Buren Street for December 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023. In that time, there were 2,043 vehicles incoming on Van Buren Street. Over a 60 day period, the average was 34 cars a day. Of those vehicles, 2041 were going between 17 to 22 mph. The remaining two vehicles travelled between 41 to 45 mph. The Chief said that the data shows there is not a lot of speeding on this road. 3. The Chief mentioned that at the bottom of Van Buren Street on Wells Parkway the Committee should consider placing a stop sign. He reported parents will use the access road of Wells Parkway and speed down that road to get to the school. Unfortunately, many children have to walk in the street of Wells Parkway due to no sidewalks. He does have an officer out there from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. trying to slow the traffic down. 4. One of the council members asked if there are signs that can collect speed information but not alert cars that the information is being collected. He felt this would be unbiased data. The Chief said there are signs that are placed on poles and can collect all the speed data. 5. The Chief also mentioned that if residents see a traffic violation in Town, if they can get the tag numbers and report to the Police, the Police will send a letter to them letting them know that a violation was observed. New Business: 1. The Chief is interested in having a community forum to discuss policing in University Park. He would like to go over the annual report and the resources we use to keep the Town safe, e.g., training, code compliance, community engagement, arms training, hires, disciplinary actions as well as some of the initiatives the Chief has going forward this year as well as partner with the community to keep it safe.