THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 18, 1994 TAG: 9408180543
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
State troopers patrolling Virginia highways are less likely to write tickets for speeding than they were last year because of a new focus on investigating more serious crimes such as drug running.
The number of summonses for excessive speed dropped 13.9 percent during the first six months of 1994 from the first half of 1993 as the troopers pursued a different role under a program called Operation Alert.
Meanwhile, the rate of traffic fatalities has declined across the state, according to state police Lt. Col. Gerald Massengill. And criminal arrests by troopers jumped 15.9 percent from the first half of 1993 to the same period this year.
``The bottom line is . . . the fatality rate is behind what it was last year, even though the number of speeding summonses is down. We know that the criminal element uses the automobile. So we are trying to use patrol resources for all different types of uses and not just be traffic cops,'' Massengill said.
There have been 516 traffic fatalities so far this year, said a state police public information spokeswoman. There were 875 highway fatalities for all of 1993.
The 900 troopers assigned to patrol Virginia's 62,000 miles of highways now spend much more time looking for cars that may be carrying fugitives or illegal drugs, Massengill said.
Operation Alert, Massengill said, was started in 1992 in response to the drug and gun running along such heavily traveled highways as Interstate 95, which connects the major cities of the Northeast with Miami and other big Southern cities.
``We have always known that since the automobile became such a part of society that we needed to be mindful that criminals took advantage of cars as tools of the trade,'' Massengill said.
The Virginia figures are in keeping with national trends. According to the Federal Highway Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of speeding tickets has fallen steadily since 1988, when 7.5 million were issued across the nation. About 7 million were issued in 1992, the last year with available statistics.
Citations for moving violations from 1989 to 1993 dropped nearly 11 percent in Florida and nearly 28 percent in Massachusetts. The Texas Highway Patrol wrote 35 percent fewer ticketsduring that period, and New York's four largest reporting regions re ported a combined 7.8 percent decline in moving violations from 1989 to 1993.
During the same period, fatalities from accidents and the number of accidents have decreased nationwide.
This is the second year that the number of speeding tickets written by state troopers has declined, Massengill said. There was a 15.5 percent drop for the first six months in 1993 from the same period in 1992, following the beginning of Operation Alert.
While careful to warn motorists that traffic laws are still being vigorously enforced, state police officials are nevertheless praising the new policy.
``We are getting better at it,'' Massengill said. ``We are looking a lot more at violent crime and toward criminal activity that comes out of a traffic stop.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA/
State trooper William ``Mac'' Ritsch helps a disabled vehicle
Wednesday afternoon. The state highway patrol has been turning more
attention to criminal investigations.
Side Bar to the story
CRIMINAL ARRESTS FROM TRAFFIC STOPS ARE GOING UP
Criminal arrests by state troopers in Virginia for the first six
months of:
1990 -- 6,110
1991 -- 7,257
1992 -- 7,450
1993 -- 7,714
1994 -- 8,944
SPEEDING TICKETS ARE GOING DOWN
Speeding tickets issued in Virginia for the first six months of:
1990 -- 164,641
1991 -- 165,765
1992 -- 157,578
1993 -- 133,015.
1994 -- 114,425.
KEYWORDS: MOVING VIOLATION TRAFFIC TICKETS TRAFFIC VIOLATION VIRGINIA
STATE TROOPER VIRGINIA STATE POLICE STATISTICS by CNB