Brockport recognized for
Community Traffic Safety Program

The receipt of the AAA Community Traffic Safety Program award is a "testament to the Brockport Police Department's focus on community policing and neighborhood-friendly safety initiatives," Village Manager Ian Coyle said.

The village was recognized at a June 28 ceremony in which it received top honors for its participation in the AAA program, the village's crossing guards were also recognized at the ceremony.

According to Sergeant Mark Philippy, those that participate in the program are judged under several categories, one of which is support of the program by groups within the community. The make up of Brockport's traffic safety committee combines forces with the police department, public works, the school system, the college police, the Brockport Area Merchant's Association, Walk!Bike!Brockport! and others.

Another Category is the "Four E's" of local traffic safety issues: education, enforcement, engineering and emergency response.

"Our department participated in each of these four areas through numerous programs," Philippy said. "For education, we host the National Night Our Bicycle Rodeo and drug awareness programs, participation in AARP Defensive Driving schools, being a lead agency in training for DWI detection and others."

In the enforcement area, the department's participation in state and national programs such as Operation Safe Stop, STOP-DWI patrols and Buckle-up New York; in the engineering portion they continue to utilize the Speed Sentry traffic monitoring device as a way to educate the public about speed and to collect data on speeding trends; and in the emergency response they discuss the department's responses to a fatal motor vehicle collision and its efforts to remediate some of the traffic safety issues that arose from that investigation.

"The village is proud of the efforts of the crossing guards and thankful for their dedication and service to the Brockport community," Coyle said.

July 9, 2006