School Zones or Speed Traps?
By Charles Carreon
Social control is generally of two types – preventive and retaliatory. Most people don’t know it, but the Oregon criminal justice system is specifically not dedicated to the rehabilitation of the people in its custody. Rather, it is specifically punitive. This attitude appears to have crept into the basic levels of law enforcement, which is ostensibly dedicated to preventive work. Like, for example, keeping kids from getting run over on the way to school by restricting speeds in school zones during school hours. The police like to “enforce the speed limit” by fining drivers after they speed. While they’re waiting for someone to speed through the school zone, they are doing nothing to prevent the speeding from happening, because they are usually trying to hide from speeders. Meanwhile, the children are walking through the crosswalks as usual, with the elderly crossing guards standing by the side of the road rather than walking each group across the road with the flag held high to remind drivers to slow down for the school zone. While they are ticketing errant drivers hurrying to work, the police are obviously out of commission, exercising a little deterrent effect, and stimulating a lot of anxiety, by the flashing of their lights.
“Crackdowns” in enforcement are based on the tacit assumption that people want to cheat. They want to speed through school zones, so they deserve to be caught and fined. More likely, nobody who is sane, and very few who are insane, would want to injure or kill a child. They would in fact appreciate it if you would help them to avoid doing such a thing. But “observe and arrest” tactics don’t help citizens to stay in compliance. Since officers get more approval from their superiors for issuing citations, they view success in the field as the failure of safety. Unless someone speeds, they don’t win. Children thus serve as bait for a speed trap.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The intersection by Bellevue School is long overdue for a traffic light. Bigger signs, twice the size they’ve got, overhanging lights that flash to remind drivers that the school zone speed is in force, and a bright logo of kids walking, painted on the pavement, would remind drivers to slow down before they enter the school zone. Also, crossing guards should cross with the students, not stand by the side of the road, and if the cops are going to be out there, they should place themselves in plain view, so drivers can slow down and comply with a law that everyone supports.
Social control is generally of two types – preventive and retaliatory. Most people don’t know it, but the Oregon criminal justice system is specifically not dedicated to the rehabilitation of the people in its custody. Rather, it is specifically punitive. This attitude appears to have crept into the basic levels of law enforcement, which is ostensibly dedicated to preventive work. Like, for example, keeping kids from getting run over on the way to school by restricting speeds in school zones during school hours. The police like to “enforce the speed limit” by fining drivers after they speed. While they’re waiting for someone to speed through the school zone, they are doing nothing to prevent the speeding from happening, because they are usually trying to hide from speeders. Meanwhile, the children are walking through the crosswalks as usual, with the elderly crossing guards standing by the side of the road rather than walking each group across the road with the flag held high to remind drivers to slow down for the school zone. While they are ticketing errant drivers hurrying to work, the police are obviously out of commission, exercising a little deterrent effect, and stimulating a lot of anxiety, by the flashing of their lights.
“Crackdowns” in enforcement are based on the tacit assumption that people want to cheat. They want to speed through school zones, so they deserve to be caught and fined. More likely, nobody who is sane, and very few who are insane, would want to injure or kill a child. They would in fact appreciate it if you would help them to avoid doing such a thing. But “observe and arrest” tactics don’t help citizens to stay in compliance. Since officers get more approval from their superiors for issuing citations, they view success in the field as the failure of safety. Unless someone speeds, they don’t win. Children thus serve as bait for a speed trap.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The intersection by Bellevue School is long overdue for a traffic light. Bigger signs, twice the size they’ve got, overhanging lights that flash to remind drivers that the school zone speed is in force, and a bright logo of kids walking, painted on the pavement, would remind drivers to slow down before they enter the school zone. Also, crossing guards should cross with the students, not stand by the side of the road, and if the cops are going to be out there, they should place themselves in plain view, so drivers can slow down and comply with a law that everyone supports.