Parker police dedicate officers solely to traffic enforcement amid rise in speeding complaints

The Parker Police Department says its officers are dealing with an issue many other police forces around the state are familiar with - drivers not following the rules of the road. In response to a constant flood of complaints about the issue, the department stepped up patrols Wednesday.  

From main thoroughfares to school zones, the roads across Parker are getting busier as the town grows, and with that comes concerns about behaviors behind the wheel. 

Officer Trevor Casey sees it on patrol nearly every shift, but these days the people of Parker report issues even more. 

"They just say they're seeing a lot more speeders on the road, a lot more people running red lights, also aggressive driving," Casey said.  

That constant feedback is why on Wednesday, Casey was among a dozen officers from the small department dedicated solely to traffic enforcement. For hours, he patrolled known trouble areas like Jordan Road, and kept plenty busy catching drivers speeding or violating other rules of the road.  

For Casey, each stop was not just about cracking down but also educating people, so in many cases he issued a warning rather than a ticket.  

By 4 p.m. Wednesday, all PPD officers made 82 traffic stops and wrote 18 citations, a department spokesperson said.  

"There are families out there driving on the road, kids coming and going from school, so it's safety," he said.  

While heavy enforcement days like this have become more regular, the department is also using another tactic to address this issue. Several years ago, it created a website, called "Let's Talk Parker," where people can input when and where they see problems. 

"What we've been doing with that is taking that and using that as our saturation point, like, 'hey, we've been getting a lot of complaints on Jordan Road,' so we definitely go out there and hammer that area," Casey said. "You'll see us more and doing more traffic stops and making sure we're showing the public we're listening."  

Casey said that dialogue is a staple of what they consider community policing, which goes far beyond just writing tickets. 

"We definitely rely on the citizens for their feedback, and then I know they rely on our feedback as well too, so we work as a team," Casey said.  

The department plans to do more traffic enforcement saturation days moving forward.