NCJ Number
72068
Date Published
Unknown
Length
21 pages
Annotation
Police field procedures in the areas of traffic accident investigation, traffic law enforcement, traffic regulation or control, parking control, and traffic safety education are examined, and examples are presented which demonstrate these activities.
Abstract
Police are facing a situation in which traffic control is becoming a larger and more complicated responsibility. Traffic accident investigation is a well-established police field practice, justified because statistics thus gathered may help to reduce future accidents and because arrests may be made if the accident was caused by a violation of the law. Administrative considerations concern the extent and intensity of traffic accident investigation and officer deployment to such assignments. Selective enforcement is the accepted technique of traffic law enforcement as an accident prevention method. Enforcement is also a commonly accepted method of parking control. Because the demand for traffic regulation is often very heavy, many police man-hours can be called to the detriment of other police or traffic operations. The same is true for parking control. Finally, traffic safety education has become a police concern because other public, quasi-public, or private agencies have not been effective. Some of the recommendations made to the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice include adoption of a policy statement toward traffic control responsibilities; investigation of as many traffic accidents as possible; use of selective enforcement in the establishment and maintenance of every traffic law enforcement program; involvement of regular patrol units in traffic enforcement; utilization of radar, chemical tests, moving pictures and tapes in traffic investigations; and use of civilian personnel in traffic point control, parking regulation, and traffic safety education. A 9-item bibliography is included.