230 replies to this topic

[Frankie811]

edgarmousha, on Apr 13 2007, 11:58 PM, said:

BTW does providence have a bicycle force?  I'm in town and saw a fellow in blue with a badge riding around on a bike about an hour ago.

Yes they do. But I didn't think that they were out that late at night when you saw them. I've only seen them in the morning and during the day/evening hours. And yes, they do wear blue jackets. And helmets of course. And everyone knows "Smiley" who patrols the downcity area.

[runawayjim]

edgarmousha, on Apr 13 2007, 11:58 PM, said:

They really only enforce it around busy areas such as Broad/Vine as well as South St.  The enforcement is by regular beat cops pulling people over.  I've seen police cars that just sit at certain corners during rush hour and if people "block the box" which inevitably results in gridlock the cops actually pull them over and fine them.

One of the funnier sites in philly is when someone decides they need to block the intersection on a friday or saturday on south st and a bike cop pulls up along side them and tells them to pull over.  I don't know why but there is nothing more hilarious than a kid in his souped up honda civic with ground effects getting a ticket from a cop on a bike.

BTW does providence have a bicycle force?  I'm in town and saw a fellow in blue with a badge riding around on a bike about an hour ago.

providence needs cops to sit at intersections like this (south main or dean st maybe?) and give out tickets.

i do believe we have bike cops.

[jencoleslaw]

community police officers and downtown officers have bikes.  and yes, cops need to sit at intersections and give out $50 tickets every time someone blocks the box. not only would it pay for itself in one rush hour, it would start to teach people NOT TO DO IT.

punishing people in the wallet works.

[Cotuit]

PPD has stepped up enforcement at various times. Last year they had a blitz Downcity where cops were pulling people over left and right during the afternoon rush. THey need to do this much more often and in more areas of the city.

I don't know about Philly, but in NYC not blocking the box is enforced mainly through peer pressure. Try blocking the box in NYC and see what happens. In Providence the peer pressure is reverse, try sitting outside the box on a green light in Providence and see what happens (or try not turning on red at a no turn on red). Maybe PPD needs to hire some civilians as peer leaders, pay them to drive around the city at rush hour not giving in to the peer pressure to break the laws.

[runawayjim]

Cotuit, on Apr 15 2007, 10:57 AM, said:

PPD has stepped up enforcement at various times. Last year they had a blitz Downcity where cops were pulling people over left and right during the afternoon rush. THey need to do this much more often and in more areas of the city.

I don't know about Philly, but in NYC not blocking the box is enforced mainly through peer pressure. Try blocking the box in NYC and see what happens. In Providence the peer pressure is reverse, try sitting outside the box on a green light in Providence and see what happens (or try not turning on red at a no turn on red). Maybe PPD needs to hire some civilians as peer leaders, pay them to drive around the city at rush hour not giving in to the peer pressure to break the laws.

i would totally do that... and since i get off work before rush hour, i totally can.  

[Frankie811]

Effectiveness of red-light cameras not yet in focus. The city’s red-light camera system has grown dramatically since the first cameras appeared on Chalkstone Avenue last April. http://www.projo.com...EV.33a579a.html

[Frankie811]

City Hall wants Providence court to change its forgiving ways

Some city officials think Caprio and the three other Municipal Court judges might be a little too forgiving to those who come before them, and it is costing the city money.

http://www.projo.com...46.3f20474.html

[runawayjim]

Frankie811, on Feb 16 2009, 08:57 AM, said:

City Hall wants Providence court to change its forgiving ways

Some city officials think Caprio and the three other Municipal Court judges might be a little too forgiving to those who come before them, and it is costing the city money.

http://www.projo.com...46.3f20474.html

Not sure what this has to do with the traffic cameras, though I think Caprio likes making people watch themselves run the red lights and makes those people pay in full.

However, I see both sides of the argument about the parking tickets.  My full opinion is "rules are rules", you park illegally, you pay a fine.  I don't care if you're loaded or on food stamps, you should know better.  Parking laws exist for a reason.  The first girl in the article should have paid something, after all, she was late.  Assuming she was a JWU student, she could have taken the bus or the JWU shuttle.

I may be heartless, but Cicilline's right, the city needs money and the best way to get that is to step up enforcement of the laws that bring in revenue... parking is one of them and probably one of the biggest.  While the courts aren't here to make money for the city, they are here to help uphold the laws.  Caprio's job is to make sure someone is paying fairly or that the ticket was given fairly.  Yes, in some cases, they're not.  After all, the signage in this city sucks.  But if you knowingly violate a parking law (come out to your meter late, park next to a fire hydrant, park in a tow zone, PARK ON THE SIDEWALK), you should be paying the full fine.  I've watched Caught in Providence and they're usually college-age people fighting their tickets.  Of course, if you go in with a PC shirt and say you're a student, you're good to go.

[Patrick Ward]

I was at the monthly crime watch meeting last week in Mt Pleasant and it was metioned that the city is considering adding cameras at two intersection. One at Mt Pleasant and Chalkstone and another at Mt Pleasant and Atwells. Most of the people present seemed to support the idea.

[runawayjim]

Patrick Ward, on Feb 17 2009, 08:48 PM, said:

I was at the monthly crime watch meeting last week in Mt Pleasant and it was metioned that the city is considering adding cameras at two intersection. One at Mt Pleasant and Chalkstone and another at Mt Pleasant and Atwells. Most of the people present seemed to support the idea.

I'm at the point where I'm supporting more red light cameras.  Dean and Atwells would be a big money maker for the city, but I doubt we'll ever see one there.

[frymasterspeck]

No word of a lie. 2 pm today, broad daylight, major intersection (Memorial Blvd South at Exchange), dude (natch) on the cell phone (natch) in a silly-ass LandRover (natch) goes straight-on-red from the protected left turn lane. He did, in fact, come to a complete stop, so at least there was an effort.

The irony was passing him 30 seconds later as he waited to turn left up Waterman. Some people want to make absolutely certain that everybody knows what kind of a jackass they are.