South San Francisco, CA April 20, 2019 Submitted by SSFPD
On Saturday April 20th, 2019, officers from a special traffic enforcement detail conducted speeding enforcement operations on various streets throughout the city. This special saturation patrol was one of many being completed on various days throughout the year. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Each saturation patrol consists of specially-trained officers using state-of-the-art lidar devices to check driver’s speeds. Lidar is a highly-accurate laser device that measures distances down to inches and exact speeds of vehicles. The lidar devices are equipped with special optical sighting systems that can differentiate between vehicles; this allows officers to target the fastest vehicle on a roadway and obtain an exact speed reading.
During the crackdown, officers handed out a total of 94 speeding citations. Officers focused enforcement on streets in the city with high traffic collision rates and in response to citizen’s complaints. The average speed cited was over 15 miles per hour over the speed limit.
If you choose to speed in South San Francisco, expect to get a citation at a minimum. The goal of these operations is to remind motorists to drive with caution, obey the speed limit, and drive safely. Remember, “Buckle up. Slow Down. Pay Attention. Arrive Alive”.
They’ve got their da@@ed “Ghost vehicle” hiding almost everywhere. Cop cars carefully disguised to be as invisible as possible ( a clear effort to violate state law, ssf seems to evade the law’s intent to assure police visibility). Cars naturally check their speed (and most slow if necessary) when a police vehicle is visible. By hiding their true identity, these “doctored” vehicles only serve to, in effect, keep most cars traveling at whatever speeds they’re going at- even if above the posted limits- without correction. This results in More dangerous roads for us all. But yes, it enables the city to ( Mis-) use the police as a revenue source ( aka a “Cash Cow”) — milking motorists while leaving us all less safe than we’d be with honest, visible police vehicles. Also, visible police can be hailed for assistance as required, whereas police-in- hiding are far less accessible for help. We hope very much to see the city repaint these “ghost cops” ( that is, their disguised vehicles )- to be normal VISIBLE police cars, without delay. There are arguably good reasons for undercover work on done occasions, but most definitely not for traffic safety and other normal public police services patrols. ( this practice also breeds a great deal of contempt for the city administration and for officers we all really could otherwise respect)
Blaming the appearance of police cars for getting caught speeding is sour grapes and ridiculous.
It’s not a game of Cat & Mouse. Safe driving isn’t about checking your speed only when you spot a police car, it’s about checking your speed all the time. If one gets caught speeding by a so-called “Ghost Vehicle” it wasn’t because of the decal on the car or for “Revenue,” it’s because the driver was speeding and got caught. If there are people who speed past the limit and only slow when they spot a police car, I’d say they deserve a ticket as they chose that risk while potentially putting others in danger.
As a SSF resident I’ve seen the speed enforcement on El Camino as well as many crashes that might have prompted the extra enforcement, and I applaud the SSFPD for their efforts regardless of the color of their door decal, which I also believe is clearly visible to someone hailing an officer. Do I drive perfectly? Nope. But getting caught is on me; not the result of a lack of bright colors on the city police car.
Congratulations, SSFPD, you’ve just made 94 NEW enemies! Think you’ll find time between “entrapments” of motorists to get to solving home invasions, armed robberies, thefts and murders anytime soon? “To protect and to serve”??? More like “to fear and resent”! Job well done! Hope you get your hands on some of that “extra” Pentagon war machinery they hand out to local PD forces all the time so you can REALLY frighten the citizenry! When I was growing up we knew and liked our local police officers and THEY LIKED US. Now you’re just a bunch of goons that people see and are instantly afraid of. So sad!
Thank you SSFPD, from the SSF non-speeders, particularly those who’ve been crashed into by these speeders. We appreciate the “Service and Protection” you’re providing. Keep up the great work!