Many Waterloo region parents may have noticed an increased police presence around schools this week with classes back in session.
That’s because the full focus of Waterloo police’s traffic division has been on schools.
“My officers in traffic — all of them this week are assigned to a minimum of two schools each per day,” Waterloo police Staff Sgt. Mike Hinsperger told Global News. “So they are physically going to several schools and doing enforcement.”
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Hinsperger said the increased presence is not just about catching the occasional speeder.
“It’s just to try to get everybody — both drivers of vehicles as well as students and parents — re-cultured back into, ‘hey, the kids are back in school,’ and we have to be a lot more cognizant of our speed and our safety while driving vehicles in and around these areas.”
The Waterloo officer said that while the final totals have not been collected on total violations this week, he has seen an increase this year over past years.
“We are certainly up in violations. We’re getting numerous per day,” he explained. “I know every officer has been busy in the school zones, getting charges daily so they have been busy.”
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There have been a couple of notable incidents posted on the Waterloo police Twitter feed this week, including one woman who was caught driving 116 km/h in a 60km/h near a school zone in New Dundee.
The woman had her car impounded and will also see her license suspended for a week.
Hinsperger said that while the Waterloo police have occasionally busted people driving erratically in the region over the years, seeing someone in such excess is more of anomaly.
“We’ve had several in past years and we do get them throughout the year from time to time. Those are unique so it’s not something that’s happening all the time,” he said.
Hinsperger said that members of the community have been very supportive as they have seen the extra officers around area schools.
“We have received very positive feedback from parents, from kids, from teachers in and around school zones,” he said. “They’re actually walking up to officers and thanking them for being there. It’s been a very positive experience from that end as well.”
While Waterloo police will not be out in such numbers till next fall, that does not mean they are disappearing from patrolling near schools.
“We are obviously going to continue doing enforcement as the coming weeks go by and that continues year round but we specifically wanted to initiate a focus on school zone enforcement given the first week back to school.”
He said they are hoping they can keep drivers from breaking the rules.
“Hopefully we can help deter drivers from extreme speeds and other unsafe activities with vehicles in and around the school zones.”
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