Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson, Captain Matt Forster, and Director of Development Crystal Surdyk listen and take notes during a community engagement meeting at Allen Park (July 6, 2023)
Concerns about speeding cars and loud noise topped the list of issues discussed at the first of four Community Engagement meetings held by the Jamestown Police Department Thursday.
The meetings are being funded through the Gun Involved Violence Elimination, or GIVE, grant program as a way for the Department to expand community outreach and youth engagement.
Over 20 people attended the first meeting at Allen Park, with multiple people voicing concerns that cars driving at fast speeds down neighborhood streets could result in someone getting injured or killed.
Captain Scott Forster said speeding is a common issue in the city and that the department has speed trailers that could be set up in problem areas, “I’ll get one set up this week. Right now, I think there is one on Martin Road up by the school. We usually have one on Buffalo and up on North Main Street, kinda like the main drags. And then we have them up around the schools during the school year, especially on Buffalo Street because of the two schools next to each other.”
Forster shared that JPD has also reapplied for a Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee grant to use toward speed enforcement as well as vehicle and traffic enforcement, “A lot of that is reckless driving, seat belts, cell phones, distracted driving, going through red lights, stop signs. We just got that (grant) last year for the first time in a few years. We got a lot of positive results from it. We saw a really high uptick in tickets, traffic tickets.”
When it came to noise complaints, Police Chief Tim Jackson said the Quality of Life Officer who recently came on board takes care of those issues as well as other nuisance issues like bicycles riding the wrong way on streets or on sidewalks; and fireworks.
Council member at large Jeff Russell shared some of the statistics of tickets issued by the Quality of Life Officer from May 27 through July 4, “Loud music arrests.. six.. from a residence, loud music from a vehicle..17 arrests, loud exhaust – six, aggravated unlicensed operation third.. that would be operating without a driver’s license.. three arrests, fireworks.. six arrests, open containers of alcohol.. three arrests, trespassing.. two arrests, mini-bike in roadway – one, warrants served – two..”
Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the city now has a policy to “go hard on the small things,” “Cause we want folks to know that we’re not going to tolerate those quality of life issues. So, as of right now they’re asking for the maximum fines on tickets. And they’re getting fines of upwards of $200 to $300 a ticket. So, we’ve worked to change our ways a bit and we’re going hard on those small things because we want the public to know that this is a big deal to our community and we want to get those folks and also let them know that.”
Jackson encouraged folks to call in issues to the Department’s non-emergency lines at 716-661-7090 or 716-483-7537.
The next Community Meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m., Thursday, July 20 at Jackson-Taylor Park.
Leave the loud exhaust issue alone! The louder the exhaust a child that your saying could get hit should be able to hear the car better! The speed is an issue however not all cars with loud exhaust speed. Let us not group the two together and treat it as the 2 entities that they are.