Lodi Traffic Sevices Officer Kelly Mann watches for violations Wednesday as students leave Reese Elemenary School. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Officers issue almost 300 tickets in a day

School's back in session, and that means vehicles and children are once again traveling the same intersections twice a day.

For some Lodi police officers, who spent much of Wednesday conducting traffic enforcement in school zones, the season means it's also time to crack down on drivers.

While city crews have added signs and lights in school zones, officers targeted the areas Wednesday, ticketing nearly 300 people.

"We continue to receive complaints on a daily basis -- e-mails, phoned in by people, multiple complaints per day -- about safety in the school zones," Lodi police Lt. Bill Barry said.

By the end of the business day, officers had written 208 traffic citations and issued 78 parking tickets, he said. A total of 12 vehicles were towed because the drivers were unlicensed.

In terms of traffic safety, school zones are the Police Department's highest priority, said Barry, who oversees traffic enforcement. On Wednesday, extra officers watched for drivers going faster than the 25 mph speed limit in school zones, running stop signs, making U-turns in school zones or failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

While school was in session during the middle of the day, the officers shifted to intersections where they see numerous accidents.

In addition to Wednesday's traffic sting, city crews recently installed extra lights and repainted signs near Reese Elementary School on West Elm Street. The area also sees traffic from nearby Lodi High and Millswood Elementary schools.

Among the changes on Elm Street are a new lighted crosswalk that blinks when pedestrians push a button to cross, a flashing red light at the Mills Avenue intersection and freshly painted crosswalks. Blinking yellow lights have also been installed to warn drivers approaching the school zone from both directions.

But Jason Kimmel, who was dropping his daughter off at Lodi High School on Wednesday morning, had another concern. He watched as a motorcycle officer allegedly sped and swerved around students to catch up with a motorist.

"(Police officers) are supposed to be examples; that's the way I look at it," Kimmel said. "I'm sure the other guy broke the law, but you don't risk other people's lives because someone ran a stop sign."

Kimmel called the school and the Police Department to complain, and Barry said he is looking into it. He couldn't comment specifically, because complaints about officers are personnel matters.

"For as long as cops have done traffic enforcement, the conflict has existed that if you see someone speeding, you must drive faster than the person who is speeding in order to catch them," Barry said. "If you can't speed to catch the speeder, you might as well put the radar gun away and go home."

Wednesday's traffic enforcement sting was one of several that officers have conducted in recent months. Barry generally targets areas with the highest accident rates, using the philosophy that if you remind people about traffic laws, they'll be more likely to obey them.

For instance, several westbound drivers were cited after turning north onto Ham Lane from Lodi Avenue, where signs warn that making turns on red lights are not allowed.

The reason, Barry said, is because northbound Ham Lane narrows to one lane at the intersection, so drivers preparing to turn may think they still have two lanes to use.

"With two different signs posting it, the people who tend to make that turn anyway tend to be either a bit of a scofflaw ... or they're not paying adequate attention to their driving," Barry said.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.