Operation Safe Stop - Recent News
Cameras to be installed on Duluth school buses
Gwinnett Post Article (03-23-06)
By Andria Simmons
Staff Writer
andria.simmons@gwinnettdailypost.com
DULUTH - Some Duluth parents say it's not uncommon to see cars whiz by their
child's school bus at 50 mph, ignoring the lowered stop bar and flashing lights
that signal for drivers to halt as children climb aboard.
Michelle, a Duluth housewife and mother of three who asked that her last name be
withheld for safety reasons, has tried to write down the offending vehicles'
license plate number, make and model. But the cars travel so quickly that it's
impossible, she said.
"I see cars just swinging by each morning, and I'm going, ';How can they do
that?'" Michelle said. "Especially on a rainy day in slippery weather. Kids are
waiting for a school bus, and they have to stand there. People will honk, too,
and they are impatient."
In response to complaints from parents and bus drivers, Duluth police's
Community Oriented Police Services division has started a bus stop safety
initiative dubbed "Operation Safe Stop."
A pilot program to mount cameras on the stop bar of school buses in the Duluth
cluster is the latest of several measures targeting reckless drivers at bus
stops. The cameras would activate when the stop bar is lowered.
The two-way cameras can record vehicles traveling toward and away from the bus.
An officer can then trace the vehicle's tag number and issue the offender a
citation.
Duluth charges a hefty fine of about $350 for illegally passing a school bus,
said Officer Jeremy Lacow of Duluth police.
Because the cameras are expensive, only two school buses will be outfitted with
the cameras to begin with. The camera equipment was donated by a private
company, and it will be installed sometime over the summer, said Sloan Roach,
spokeswoman for Gwinnett County Public Schools.
If the effort proves successful, more cameras could be added to the fleet.
"It's a pilot program, so we will be evaluating the results of how effective it
is," Roach said. "There is not money budgeted for it at this point, but if it
proves to be effective it would be something we would look to possibly expand."
Lacow was inspired to start Operation Safe Stop last fall after talking with a
transportation supervisor for Gwinnett County Public Schools. The supervisor
began complaining to Lacow about how often motorists were passing school buses,
putting kids in danger.
"I went up to a bus stop, and I couldn't believe it," Lacow said.
"That first day I went out and had several cars pass me. I probably wrote four
or five citations. It kind of just developed from there."
Lacow said 43 citations have been issued for vehicles illegally passing school
buses since October 2005.
One man was also arrested on a felony charge of enticing a child for indecent
purposes at a bus stop. The man was a day laborer who allegedly yelled obscene
remarks at an 11-year-old girl and asked her to come to his apartment to have
sex, Lacow said.
Another component of Operation Safe Stop is recruiting and coordinating citizen
volunteers - mostly parents - who will watch over children at the bus stop.
Those monitors will have a direct line of communication with Lacow to report
problems of bullying, fights, illegal passing of school buses or other
suspicious activity.
Since Michelle already walks her 6-year-old son to the bus stop most days at
7:20 a.m., she was one of the first to volunteer. So far, only four other
parents have signed up, but Lacow hopes to have monitors stationed at almost
every bus stop in Duluth by the start of next school year.
Volunteers will have to attend a short orientation, have their picture taken for
an ID badge and submit to a background check.