Salem board puts hold on Wise Grant traffic program

By Gail Peckler-Dziki
Correspondent

Several Salem Town Board members expressed displeasure recently that town administrator Pat Casey and Public Safety supervisor Dave Shortess had applied for a WISE Grant traffic enforcement program and begun purchasing additional gear without coming before the town board.

“We are authorized to make purchases up to a certain amount without permission,” Casey said at the board meeting.

Town Supervisor Ted Kmiec expressed concern that the town had purchased more radar guns and body cameras for officers prior to the board enacting a governing ordinance.

“We need time to create an ordinance for the use of the body cams,” he said.

Shortess supplied board members with documentation of the number of tickets that Salem Public Safety had written on Highway 50 for May 2016. Thirty-one percent of the tickets were written on Highway 50.

Paddock Lake officials have reported witnessing Salem Public Safety officers shooting radar near the intersection of Highway K and 248th Avenue and residents reported seeing Salem Public Safety cars patrolling on Highway 50 east of the developed area.

Town Supervisor Dan Campion stated that he didn’t want Salem Public Safety taking the place of the Kenosha County Sheriff Department.

“This is what we pay taxes for,” Campion said. “This is where they need to be. Salem Public Safety needs to be taking care of the town. Don’t let the sheriff’s department off the hook.”

Campion also expressed concern that Salem Public Safety officers might not be trained to deal with some of the more criminal activity they might find in Highway 50 traffic stops.

Shortess explained that not all the Salem Public Safety officers were trained for traffic and only those properly trained pulled Highway 50 duty.

The board also expressed concern about the one contact every 45 minutes in order to receive the 100 percent reimbursement up to $15,000 for speed contacts and $15,000 for seatbelt contacts.

All expressed concern about creating a speed trap. Shortess explained that no tickets are given by Salem unless the car is traveling at more than 15 miles over the limit.

Supervisor Mike Culat mentioned numerous speed traps in Illinois municipalities and asked several times for a record of accidents. Shortess explained that information is kept by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, not Salem Public Safety.

The board will put this item on the July 11 regular town board agenda. All board members asked for more information regarding what Salem Public Safety does.

Salem and the Twin Lakes police department applied for the grant, which will run from April until Sept. 30 of this year.

The two departments were awarded $50,000. Salem has budgeted $15,000 for speeding enforcement and $15,000 for seatbelt enforcement. Twin Lakes PD will use $10,000 for speed enforcement and $10,000 for seatbelt enforcement.

“As incentive to administer and participate in the program,” Shortess wrote in a letter to the board, “Salem has received $5,000 to purchase equipment to supplement the traffic safety initiative. We have thus far purchased one additional LIDAR (light imaging detection and radar, used to measure car speed) and 2 K-band radar units. There were additional moneys left over that allowed us to purchase two body-worn recording devices as well. These will be used as soon as the policy has been completed for their use.”

In addition to traffic stops for speeding and seatbelt violations, Salem Public Safety would also make arrests for drunken driving violations.

Tickets for seatbelt violations would be given and the cost of that ticket is $10.

It was mentioned that the moneys received for the grant would lower the moneys needed from taxpayers to pay for public safety.


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