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State Police Seek Ways to Protect Troopers at Traffic Stops
Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, far left, Registrar Rachel Kaprelian and other walk past cruiser driven by Trooper Corey Rose who was hit by an accused drunk driver over the weekend in Taunton.
Boston Globe via YellowBrix
July 23, 2010
FRAMINGHAM — State Police will review their rules on traffic stops and continue increased weekend patrols in response to a series of traffic incidents that have injured five troopers, one fatally, in the past five weeks.
Colonel Marian McGovern, the State Police commander, told reporters at headquarters today that she does not believe the troopers who were struck by vehicles did anything wrong.
Instead, the review of policies and procedures is aimed at learning whether there are safer techniques or better technologies used by other departments that could also be deployed by her department.
McGovern said there is no such thing as a routine arrest.
“What’s different about police work is that nothing is standard,‘’ she said. "Every single stop could be the last stop.’’
Joining McGovern were Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, state and federal transportation officials, and representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the American Automobile Association.
McGovern said her agency is obviously interested in protecting troopers, but it is also very concerned about safety of motorists.
“Let me make it very clear. While we are concerned about trooper safety, we are equally concerned about the public who travel our roadways every day,‘’ she said. "We are dedicated to doing all we can to make the highways safer for them.’’
McGovern said her department will continue to establish sobriety roadblocks periodically around the state and will also have four extra patrols on Fridays and Saturdays in each State Police patrol district.
The head of the state police union called Monday for a sweeping crackdown on motorists who are driving drunk, urging that more personnel be dedicated to the peak hours for drinking and driving, particularly Friday and Saturday nights along major highways, the Globe reported earlier this week.
All five crashes took place between midnight and 2:30 a.m. and in four of them drivers face drunken driving charges. In one accident, police have not identified the driver.
In the worst crash, Sergeant Douglas Weddleton, 52, a father of four, was killed in June. He had pulled over one suspected drunk driver, when a second driver, whom police say had also been drinking, plowed into the stopped car, pushing it into Weddleton.
Chapman38
almost 3 years ago
622 Comments
@jims4: Just be careful when you do.. If they're drunk enough to operate a vehicle, you never know if they're drunk enough to carry a gun. I was calling one in about two months ago, it was I-45 here in Texas going north from Galveston. He was driving a blue 1998 GMC Sierra, I ended up following him through countless jurisdictions. He never got caught, the scary part was when he rolled down the window and flashed a weapon out the window, I immediately told the dispatcher and they ended up getting him as I was backing off of it.
jims4
almost 3 years ago
2610 Comments
First offense: $10,000 fine, 1 year jail, 10 year loss of license. Will that deter? If there is a death as a result of a drunk driver the driver should be charged with 1st degree murder, since they knowingly got the behind the wheel drunk. I have zero tolerance for a drunk driver. I have 3 times stayed with a drunk driver, and gone miles out of my way, on the phone with police until units arrived to stop the vehicle. Twice on interstates and once on a local highway. On the local highway, the vehicle went over the line into oncoming traffic causing a driver to crash into the guardrail and spin around. How horrifying. Thank God nobody was injured. I pray every day for all of you to be safe!