Speeding through Boca, especially downtown and to the beaches, is getting more attention in city hall now. Here’s a deeper dive on the issue with Boca Raton Police Services’ Public Information Officer Jessica Desir.
Q: What is the department doing to directly address this situation? Are you beefing up existing enforcement or starting something new?
A: The concerns that we are hearing are not new or trending. In response to traffic complaints in downtown Boca over a period of time, we have provided extra traffic enforcement between 4 p.m. and midnight. We also have an officer assigned specifically to pedestrian safety and speed enforcement in the downtown area.
Q: Do you have a unit specifically to address these concerns? Will you add more officers?
A: Additionally, we have a full-time Traffic Unit with five motor officers who conduct daily traffic enforcement along with our patrol officers. Our Traffic Unit and patrol officers often use the community’s input to target problem areas.
Q: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office does enforcement saturations and releases the citation results. Are you planning something similar?
A: There are no plans for an enforcement saturation. Our approach is to provide continued traffic enforcement with our traffic officers and patrol officers daily.
Q: The mayor said Boca Raton Police Services is working with PBSO and Broward police since some drivers leave the jurisdiction. Is this ongoing or just started happening?
A: When we identify large car clubs coming into our city after meetups, we contact our neighboring jurisdictions to form an ad hoc task force to have a coordinated response in deterring the drivers from coming into our cities to speed and drive recklessly. Our neighboring jurisdictions will reciprocate if they receive information regarding car clubs.
Q: Are you working with the city on signage and other programs to let drivers know speeding won’t be tolerated in city limits?
A: We utilize speed trailers to educate drivers and convey our message that speeding will not be tolerated. We also take community input to target problem areas.
Q: What can you realistically do on county and state roads where residents asked for more enforcement, like east Palmetto Park Road and A1A?
A: We have jurisdiction to enforce the traffic laws on those roadways within our city limits.
By Marci Shatzman
