Las Vegas Sun

February 12, 2012

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Traffic enforcement near school prompts NAACP complaint

Published Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 | 9:49 a.m.

Kermit R. Booker Elementary School

Metro Police issued 92 traffic-related citations across the Las Vegas Valley on Monday as part of an annual effort to boost safety near schools. But the operation prompted a complaint by the NAACP.

The NAACP alleged that jaywalking tickets handed out to parents near Kermit R. Booker Sr. Empowerment Elementary School unfairly penalized people who live in a low-income area.

NAACP officials, who are demanding the tickets be dismissed, said in a statement that “the actions of Metro officers have tainted the memory of this day for many parents and children at Booker.”

Metro, however, said it is simply targeting schools that have a history of traffic-related problems.

“Police work does not have ethnic parameters; it does not have income parameters,” Lt. John Faulis of Metro’s traffic bureau said. “It’s what is safest for this city and our community, and that is it.”

Faulis said officers issued 14 jaywalking tickets Monday, including four near Booker, along Martin Luther King Boulevard in west Las Vegas. A motorist near Booker also was cited for failure to yield and driving without a license, police said.

“With the start of school, one of our No. 1 priorities in the traffic bureau is to keep kids safe,” Faulis said. “People all over the summer, they’re used to driving a little bit faster and not having to pay attention to school zones.”

But Richard Boulware, chairperson of NAACP's legal redress committee, said police should have notified school officials about the enforcement so they could have warned parents, he said.

Plus, Boulware said the symbolism of minority children witnessing police giving their parents tickets on the first day of school works against efforts to create a "strong relationship between the minority community and the police department."

Faulis said Metro’s traffic bureau consulted the division that oversees school crossing guards to identify 30-plus Las Vegas schools that have had traffic-related problems. The enforcement plan in effect this week includes at least three schools within each of Metro’s eight area command patrols, he said.

The NAACP said Booker parents think using the crosswalk parallel to Martin Luther King Boulevard is more dangerous than crossing directly in front of the school, where there tends to be less traffic.

Faulis, however, urged pedestrians to use the crosswalks because traffic engineering studies have determined them to be the safest place to cross the street. He also pointed out that of 50 traffic-related fatalities this year, 17 have been pedestrians.

“That’s why we treat this so seriously,” he said.

During the safety enforcement initiative near schools across the valley Monday, Metro Police also issued:

• 24 speeding tickets.

• 33 administrative tickets for non-moving violations such as driving without insurance.

• Eight tickets for seat belt violations.

• Six tickets for other moving violations.

• Two tickets for reckless driving.

• One ticket for a red light violation.

Boulware said the NAACP hopes to discuss with police how the tickets were issued.

"I'm not sure what will happen, if anything," he said. "But we're going to raise this issue."

Discussion: 4 comments so far…

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  1. Have to love that the NAACP feels that laws do not apply to "their people" all the time.

    Enforcing laws is not fair if you are poor or black?

    thekube; Why do we have to put up signs explaining common sense laws? Why can't people just obey the law and be safe rather then expect special treatment just because they live in a low income area? When I have to wreck my car to keep from running them over who is going to pay for it?

  2. weninvegas

    I agree with everything in your post! I have inadvertently been stuck driving thru the middle of the campus at one of the Valley's fine schools and I'll tell ya' - I'd rather drive the Strip then deal with that crap! The PARENTS are the worst!!! They think they can do as they please. What an example for their kids!! Most of the time - there is no organization, the crossing guards are senile at best but if it wasn't for those guards, the kids would be darting out right in front of you. And again - the parents!!! I guess they think just because they're dropping their kids off at school, they do not need to follow traffic rules or signs.

    Glad those jay walking tickets were issued! They may be poor, but that doesn't mean they can't learn how to cross the street properly. And SHOW BY EXAMPLE to their kids how to cross the street the proper way - at crosswalks and OBEY any traffic signs and signals. No wonder you see citizens of all ages just meandering into the street at any given time and place in certain areas of the valley. Then if you hit one of them - it's YOUR fault.

    The NAACP should be using their time more constructively.

  3. Let's be real, this isn't about safety. It's about fine income.

  4. The NAACP has issued a complaint that's it a complaint they the NAACP knows that the complaint has no substance and with no substance it has no merit and no merit means no legal claim that's why it is a complaint and nothing more there will be no law suits by the agency, The complaint is meant to oppress the the law enforcement agency from future ticket writing, The NAACP wants everyone to fear them and to ask permission from them before any actions can be done.
    Further more had a child been hit by a car then you would be hearing Metro doesn't do enough in our part of town they metro turns a blind eye and allows these things to go on they do these things because we are minorities! Some people think that pedestrians have the right of way, They do only if the pedestrian is in compliance with the laws set forth by the governing body.
    I would hope that Metro or the governing body does not dismiss the tickets and ask the NAACP to state there case with a case in other words Put up! or Shut up!
    And the ones who have received a citation you can plead your case as well, You can say not Guilty or Guilty and then proceed from there.

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