Local motorists can expect to see more red and blue lights flashing in their rear-view mirrors if they don’t slow down, thanks to more officers out on Kirkland streets doing traffic stops.
In fact, the number of traffic stops in Kirkland has spiked by 30 percent in the first three months of 2011 compared to the same time last year, according to Reporter statistics. The increase in traffic stops is directly attributable to the annexation ramp up, said Kirkland Police Department Sgt. Rob Saloum.
“There have been more bodies out there,” said Saloum. “We have 20 additional officers on the street.”
The increase in traffic stops within the city will continue until the annexation date of June 1, when it is assumed that the same average will be spread over the bigger geographic region, including the Finn Hill, Kingsgate and Juanita neighborhoods.
When officers are not responding to calls they are free to use their time, at their discretion, in other ways.
“They can allocate their time as they want,” said Saloum. “They can do paperwork, make contacts with the community or enforce traffic laws.”
Prior to the ramp up for annexation, the KPD had 67 officers. The department has currently hired 20 additional officers and expects to hire 14 more for a total of 101 officers by the annexation date.
The Kirkland Reporter includes in its weekly Police Blotter a count of all police actions for each week. An analysis of the numbers from Jan. 1, 2009 to March 31, 2011, showed that in 2009 the first three months of the year had an average of 357.8 traffic stops per week and in 2010 the average was 400.9, an increase of 10 percent. That 10 percent increase is also within the average jump from month to month. But in 2011 the average jumped to 568.23, an increase of 29.5 percent.
The one word that sometimes comes to mind in these situations is “quota.”
“No, we do not have quotas,” said Saloum. “That is something that people think, but we just expect our people to be working and that is part of their job.”
Saloum said that the KPD has 35 complaint zones within the city that have been generated by citizen complaints, such as school zones and main arterials. These complaint zones are some of the most policed for traffic enforcement.
According to Reporter records, from mid-December to late January has the highest rate of traffic stops of the calendar year, while the end of the summer had the lowest during the past two years.
The week of Feb. 11-17 of this year had a record number of traffic stops through the 27-month period at 688 stops. The lowest amount in one week this year has been 481 from Feb. 4-10 and over the 27-month period was 249 Aug. 12-18, 2009. The average per week for the calendar year in 2010 was 405.54 traffic stops per week.
The KPD has made 7,387 stops from Jan. 1 to March 31, while it made 20,683 stops during all of 2010.
One of the benefits of an increased presence by the KPD on area streets have been DUI arrests.
“The emphasis has resulted in about 40 percent more DUI stops from the first three months of 2010 to the first three months of 2011,” said Saloum.
Specifically, there were 82 DUI arrests in the first three months of 2010 and 124 in the first three months of this year.
“Time and time again, our No. 1 complaint is traffic related,” said Saloum. “The people who are speeding are not going to like the increase.”
And the excuses that officers hear for infractions run the gamut.
“I had a doctor tell me he was on the way to an emergency circumcision,” said Saloum. “It is pretty much anything you can think of.”
But not all traffic stops end in citations. Saloum said that the KPD has a pretty high rate of warnings as well.
“A lot of our officers are around 50 percent,” said Saloum. “We give warnings when it is warranted. We don’t try to hammer people and write every infraction.”
Saloum said that the point of traffic tickets is to keep people safe and stop any dangerous actions by drivers.
