Baldwin police stopping drivers to tell them about speeding concerns
BALDWIN, Pa. (KDKA) - Baldwin Borough police stopped 995 cars in just eight hours this week, but not one driver got a ticket.
"They are positive interactions and overwhelmingly the number of residents that we stopped were pleased that we were stopping," said Baldwin Borough Police Department Chief Anthony Cortazzo.
KDKA's Meghan Schiller sat down with Cortazzo and talked about why he says this wasn't a "typical" traffic stop.
"Speeding is a big problem, stop sign violations are a big problem, school bus violations are another big problem," said Cortazzo.
He says his call sheet is regularly filled with neighbors' complaints about these issues. Eileen Bourgeois Hahn is a frequent caller.
"If you do go 25 miles per hour, people get very aggressive and they tailgate you and sometimes they cross the double yellow line," said Hahn.
She lives along Joseph Street and created "Drive Like Your Pets Live Here" signs, saying she's willing to try anything to protect her family, her dogs and her neighbors.
"It's a matter of respect. People with children live here, there's pets, there a couple handicapped people that live on the street with wheelchairs," said Hahn.
That's why local police, along with the public works department, came up with the idea to try something different: stop people and make them think.
"A 'safety check' if you will," said Cortazzo. "We will go onto the roads, we will stop every car with two officers, one facing each way, and we will explain to them that we've had a lot of complaints on this street."
His officers stopped 995 cars in just eight hours and handed out a flyer that explained the initiative. Only positive reactions followed.
"There was no enforcement activity, there were no citations, and we didn't ask for driver's licenses or registration," said Cortazzo. "This was a mere encounter on the street where we provided them information and we gave them a card, explained what we were doing."
Cortazzo realizes it's unconventional and tells KDKA he's never heard of any other department doing it, but it fits his department's philosophy.
"The more time that we're interacting with members of our community in a non-enforcement capacity, the stronger bond we're going to have between us and the community, which makes us a better community and makes us a safer community."
Cortazzo tells KDKA his officers focused on hotspots including along Joseph Street, Steiner, Cathell and Magnolia; Prospect and Elmwood; Hallowhaven and Colewood; and Irwin and Campbell.
Beth Garfold's kids catch the bus on Prospect and she saw the officers in action.
"I really think that them bringing it to the community first before they go hardcore is definitely good because it'll be encouraging for the community to be more conscientious about what's going on in the neighborhood," said Garfold.
And the phone calls into the chief's office are already impacted.
"All of my phone calls are supportive in nature and suggesting other streets that we should do this on," said Cortazzo.
It's unclear if the new approach worked, but Cortazzo tells KDKA they're going to go back out to the same hot spots and do enforcement with citations. If the number of offenders goes down, Cortazzo says he'll call it a win.
