Operation Safe Stop
OPERATION SAFE STOP is a community based school bus stop safety program that was created by Berks-Lehigh Regional Police Chief Michael P. Weiser and Crime Prevention Officer Peter V. Nickischer in late 2006. The program had four main goals:
1. Allow Upper Macungie Township Residents and Parkland School District Transportation officials the opportunity to nominate school bus stops throughout the township. These bus stop locations, nicknamed “Safe Stops,” would be placed on a list located in the BLRPD Upper Macungie Substation.
2. Increase officer presence throughout all listed bus stops through the use of marked and unmarked police vehicles and through foot patrol.
3. Prevent violations of Pennsylvania Vehicle Code section 3345, “Meeting or Overtaking School Bus” by passing motorists by being highly visible in problem areas.*
4. Apprehend and cite those motorists who fail to stop for flashing red signals on school buses.
*The reader should note that the third objective is listed before the fourth objective for a reason. Although we hope to apprehend and cite offenders, our main purpose is the safety of all children (and parents) at “Safe Stops.” A violation prevented may have saved the life of an innocent child and therefore is more important that a citation.
In the 2007-2008 school year, the Operation Safe Stop program was green lighted by Chief of Police Michael Weiser and published so that residents could nominate local bus stops. Parkland Transportation officials welcomed the idea and quickly handed over their list of “problem bus stops.” In all, 35 bus stops were nominated. Berks-Lehigh Regional Police Officers were notified of the new plan and asked to volunteer when on-duty. The following officers participated in the 2007-2008 program and documented their results:
Chief Michael Weiser, Patrolman Cory Reader, Patrolman Peter Nickischer, Patrolman Michael Cardell, Patrolman Dathan Schlegel, Patrolman Steve Marshall, Patrolman Nick Morris
Officers were asked to not only to be visible and cite violators, but to also attempt to make contact with parents and children. This was done to encourage residents to communicate openly with police officers and ask questions if need be. This positive exchange between parents and police allows children to see first hand that police and parents work together to keep them safe and that police officers are people that children can trust if they need help. In all, officers reported 19 adult interactions and 62 child interactions.
During the 2007-2008 school year, Berks Lehigh Regional Police conducted 55 separate checks of “Safe Stop” locations. As a result, one driver was issued a citation for a stop sign violation, one driver was issued a written warning for a PAVC section 3345 violation, and one driver was issued a citation for a PAVC 3345 violation.
Improvements for Next Year- To make sure that the Operation Safe Stop program continues to thrive, there are several areas that need to be improved.
1. Involve more officers so that more stops can be added and those on the list are checked more often. This is difficult, however, because morning stops take place during morning rush hour and this increases call volume for officers, sometimes pulling officers away from bus stops.
2. Increase media campaign to notify residents of the program and get them involved.
3. Incorporate the Criminal Investigations Unit for “ride-alongs” on buses to catch moving offenders.
4. Involve parents more directly- have “Safe Stop” parents who are trained specifically on what to do if there is a violation and how to help police convict offenders.
Nominations for the 2008-2009 school year can be placed by emailing Officer Peter Nickischer at blrpdcrimeprevention@gmail.com or calling 610-683-8740 ext. 225