Today is the first day of the "S.T.E.P." program that BPD describes as
The Burlingame Police Department is pleased to announce the first deployment of the San Mateo County Saturation Traffic Enforcement Program (S.T.E.P.) on Wednesday, January 16th. S.T.E.P is a collaborative effort, consisting of traffic officers from local law enforcement agencies throughout San Mateo County. Participating officers are detailed to problem locations in San Mateo County based on collision data, community complaints, and expert officer opinion. Specifically, officers will be looking for distracted drivers (talking on cell phones and texting), pedestrian right-of way violations, and unsafe speed.
If I get a chance to chat with BPD I'll add some more detail later. In the meantime, as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus used to say on Hill Street Blues, "be careful out there".
Thanks for posting this Joe, I was wondering what the H was going on today. There seemed to be motorcycle cops everywhere and I know we don't have that many motorcycle cops. This clears up the mystery.
Posted by: Russ | January 16, 2013 at 07:12 PM
When will they deploy out of Burlingame?
I passed at least 15 of them yesterday in my travels and every single police officer was writing tickets at Oak Grove, Broadway, Chapin, California, etc.
I want to get back to my "normal" way of driving!
Posted by: Two Cents | January 17, 2013 at 08:02 AM
Sounds like it safe to get my bicycle back on the road again.
Posted by: pat giorni | January 17, 2013 at 08:43 PM
I hope this will send a message to drivers to stop using their cellphones on the road. This is a very real problem in Burlingame - as it is all over the country.
Posted by: K | January 18, 2013 at 12:05 PM
Here's a bit of elaboration from BPD on the STEP program which will
Last week’s deployment was the first STEP operation, and it was a tremendous success. There were 79 citations issued in Burlingame, and 77 in San Mateo. Twenty officers from fourteen agencies participated (Participating Agencies: San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, Belmont PD, Burlingame PD, Daly City PD, Foster City PD, Hillsborough PD, SMSO Millbrae Bureau, SMSO San Carlos Bureau, Pacifica PD, Redwood City PD, San Bruno PD, San Mateo PD, South San Francisco PD).
This program is scheduled to run throughout the year, with two cities hosting one deployment per month.
Posted by: Joe | January 23, 2013 at 11:46 AM
Throughout the month of April, San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies cracked down on drivers observed texting or talking on cellphones as part of the Distracted Driving Awareness campaign.
During that time, the Millbrae Police Bureau issued 119 citations for operating a cellphone while driving. Although the program has concluded, vehicle code sections prohibiting distracted driving will continue to be strictly enforced throughout the city.
The current minimum ticket cost is $159, with subsequent tickets costing at least $279. Last April, more than 57,000 tickets were written statewide for texting and hand-held cell use. There were nearly 450,000 convictions in 2012.
GOOD!
Posted by: hillsider | May 04, 2013 at 12:14 PM
The DUI Checkpoint last Saturday night netted 2 DUI arrests and a number of other infractions. Another is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 30 somewhere in B'game.
Posted by: Joe | December 19, 2013 at 07:11 PM