Police release school bus safety grant results

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At the beginning of the school year, two local police agencies received Stop Arm Violation Enforcement funding in an effort to reduce school bus stop arm traffic violations.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department received a $39,680 grant and the Seymour Police Department received $3,000 for the effort. They were among just 40 agencies in the state, who received a total of $380,000.

The funding was to help offset overtime the agencies could accumulate during school bus stop enforcement this past August and September. This was in response to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signing a new school bus safety law that took effect July 1.

Motorists who ignore school bus stop arms will face harsher punishment. A driver who injures or kills a person while ignoring a bus stop arm will be charged with a Level 6 felony. Previously, such a violation was only a Class A misdemeanor.

A judge will be able to suspend a driver’s license for 90 days if they pass a school bus with its stop arm engaged.

On Thursday, Holcomb announced the results of the overtime patrols that were conducted by the law enforcement agencies to create safer school bus stops.

The departments awarded SAVE grants issued 2,675 citations and 1,430 warnings during the two-month mobilization, which kicked off at the start of the 2019-20 school year.

The program is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and administered by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.

Locally, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department reported officers working overtime issued 23 citations and 235 warnings during the two month enforcement period.

Out of the 23 citations, one was for a stop arm violation and 17 involved speeding. Other citation categories included criminal misdemeanor (one), driving while suspended (three) and failure to stop at a stop sign or stoplight (one).

As for the warnings, 223 were for speeding and 12 were for other traffic offenses.

Sheriff Rick Meyer said the department was allotted $39,680 but only spent $8,772.75. This was for a total of 293 overtime hours worked by 17 officers ($8,675.33) and administrative expenditures ($97.42).

"This was due to us losing four guys to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in September and that left us four officers short," Meyer said. "I look forward to applying for the grant again if it becomes available."

Meyer said he has had a lot of positive comments from the community and school administrators around the county, and it was definitely a positive for the schools and for the community as a whole having several officers at the schools throughout the county.

"During the beginning of the school year, I think it showed that we were going to be proactive and try to keep drivers from speeding though school zones," Meyer said. "It showed that the kids’ safety is top priority and the last thing we want is to have a child struck by a vehicle."

Out of the $3,000 the Seymour Police Department was allotted, $1,763.43 was spent toward paying officers to work overtime to enforce stop arm violations, said Lt. John Watson.

Eight officers worked a total of 43.5 overtime hours during the SAVE enforcement period, which was from 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. each school day, he said.

"During the enforcement period, officers worked closely with Seymour Community School Corp.," Watson said. "A Seymour police officer was placed on a school bus while another Seymour police officer followed the school bus close by."

Watson said the officer on the school bus would then radio any violations witnessed to the officer following the school bus. Seymour police working the SAVE detail witnessed zero stop arm violations.

The Seymour Police Department has been known for its Officer on a Bus program, which made headlines across the nation.

"Since implementing that program in the fall of 2017, the number of all violations around school buses decreased," Watson said. "This could be a contributing factor why zero violations were witnessed."

Seymour has had a close working relationship with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute for a long time, and Watson said the department will definitely apply for traffic enforcement grants in the future.

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