One of the most frequent concerns raised by residents of the Village relates to traffic conditions and speeding vehicles in the neighborhoods. Often, residents will call or e-mail the police department with information that does not relate to a specific vehicle, driver or incident, but with a more general concern pertaining to the entire "traffic picture" of a given area.

In the past, without understanding the nature of the problem, these concerns would have been addressed by assigning patrol officers to conduct radar enforcement at various days and times, hoping to have a positive effect on the traffic conditions. Depending on the specific circumstances, it could take several days or weeks to gather sufficient information to form an accurate picture of the traffic flow, patterns and speed trends. Not only was this an inefficient approach to traffic enforcement, but frequently the police department would spend a considerable amount of time conducting radar enforcement, only to learn that that the speeding problem was limited to a handful of vehicles at specific times of the day.

To more effectively deal with these concerns, the police department employs two tools to accurately gather traffic data; the S.M.A.R.T. Radar Trailer and the newer StealthStat traffic monitoring device. Both of these computer-driven devices use Doppler Radar to gather traffic data by counting the number and speed of vehicles traveling on a specific roadway. Both units can monitor traffic conditions for several days without expending a significant amount of manpower and the StealthStat has the advantage of being the size of a shoebox that can be mounted on a light pole, street sign or left in the rear window of a parked vehicle. Both instruments produce detailed reports totaling the number of vehicles monitored in the study, the average vehicle speed, the 85th percentile (the speed at which 85% of all vehicles are traveling), and the individual speed of every vehicle in 15 minute increments. Armed with this data, the police department can accurately determine the extent of any speed-related problems and take specific traffic enforcement actions based on the day(s) of the week and time of day when the study has indicated when most of the speeding violations have occurred. (Read about our Citizen Speed Control Program).

When a resident calls or e-mails the police department with specific speeding concerns, the department will initiate a traffic study as soon as practical (based upon instrument availability, weather conditions, etc). The results of the speed study will be communicated to the individual making the request and will be posted on our web site along with any recommended follow-up enforcement actions.