City of Lakewood social media post.
Time to slow down people. Friday (Feb. 10) Lakewood Police and officers from neighboring agencies will be in Lakewood conducting speed emphasis patrols throughout the city ALL DAY. Tickets will be issued. You have been warned.
“You haff bin varned!”
There’s a couple different ways to deliver advice.
This doesn’t seem like the most neighborly.
Yep, though if they’re going for a RoboCop parody, it’s spot on.
Almost 30 years ago I was riding my motorcycle through Steilacoom to my moms house, going too fast, and I didn’t make a complete stop at union st (understatement) so 20 minutes later officer Whelan knocks on the door, I come out, he then very pleasantly lectured my young self on how there were lots of elderly people out walking in town, and a little on safety and slightly touched on my lack of stopping for the stop sign, he chatted with me, couldn’t have been nicer, but you could tell he meant business if I didn’t heed his unsaid warning.
Now he’s been a Steilacoom police officer for about forever and I retired last year, but I have never gone over the speed limit in Steilacoom again. It would be pretty embarrassing if he pulled me over now, he knows everybody in town, and everyone knows him. Also Larry’s my friend now, he always has a kind word or will stop to say hi, as he does with everyone.
Lakewood police could definitely learn from Steilacoom police.
Andrew,
We do not know each other but I know Officer Larry Whelan. Larry and I attended the same police academy sponsored by Tacoma Police Department which was held at Pierce College back in 1990.
I enjoyed your comment about Larry. It brought bnack old memories of Larry and my early relationship.
If I understand what you are saying you are correct. Excellent traffic enforcement with an emphasis on saving victims from collisions involving property damage, injury and death is a combination of issuing tickets and verbal warnings which ever is appropriate.
Joseph Boyle – 20+ Years Pierce County Sheriff’s Department / Lakewood Police Department
Chas Ames, my comment(s) here are not meant to be harmful to our past relationship, but I must respectfully say, I do not agree with your viewpoint.
During my 20+ years in traffic enforcement, collision investigation, and fatality investigation I had to tow too many damaged vehicles and picked up too many broken and dead vehicle occupants to count often caused by excess speed.
There is nothing neighborly about a dead body on the roadway caused by speed.
I believe The City of Lakewood is being very neighborly by just informing citizens about the speed emphasis. There is no legal mandate for them to inform the public.
There are two ways to learn, the easy way and the hard way. Read about it in the paper or learn the hard way with a traffic ticket.
The neighborly message which in the past I helped communicate is “Don’t speed in Lakewood.” That message reminds me of Fircrest. I knew from day one when I got my driver’s license at age 16, you do not speed in Fircrest. If you speed, you will get a traffic ticket. Speed = consequences. Fircrest has always had a reputation as a place not to speed. No, Fircrest has never been a “speed trap”.
Thanks to The City of Lakewood for your “right neighborly” preview for the enforcement activity planned for February 10, 2023.
Oh, and one more thing for anyone receiving a speeding ticket. Do not add more ignorance to your behavior by telling people you were caught in a “speed trap”.
Not one single police officer working the speed emphasis will be involved in setting up a speed trap. To clearly understand my point please consider the following points.
#1: All licensed drivers already know they are not supposed to speed. No trap there.
#2. The speed limit throughout Pierce County, when I lived in Washington was “25 mph unless otherwise posted”. No trap there.
#3: The City of Lakewood has gone to considerable expense to post metal signs on most roadways informing drivers about the speed limit. No trap there.
Tip: Every time you turn a corner and enter a new road, get in the habit of looking for a speed sign within 50′ or so.
#4: The City of Lakewood has gone to the neighborly effort of publishing an advance notice in Lakewood’s hometown newspaper about the forthcoming speed emphasis. No trap there.
#5: The one exception to my speed trap treatise is the case where you receive a speeding ticket on a roadway where the police officer hides the speed limit sign with a gunny sack. Speed trap here.
Tip: Take a smartphone photo of the sign covered with the police officer’s gunny sack so you can complain to the judge that you were caught in a “speed trap”.
Joseph Boyle – Former Lakewood Resident 51 years
I’m glad to see this. It seems like speed patrols stopped with Covid and never restarted. Drivers everywhere have figured that out, it’s time to restore some balance out there.
Now, maybe we could also do something about the epidemic of expired car tabs? Next time you’re in a parking lot do a casual survey. It’s 10-20%.
It’s about time. It seems that newly upgraded roads are an invitation to some people to speed. It isn’t unusual to see the electronic speed signs flash speeds of 45 mph on Veterans Drive at any time of day, but especially during a shift change at the VA Hospital. Cameras on those signs would make a fortune for the city coffers.
They should do “gunshot emphasis patrols” instead…
The Lakewood PD does a good job of enforcing the traffic laws, given their limited resources. They cannot be everywhere all the time. I live a couple of blocks off of the “racetrack” of Custer Rd between John Dower Rd and 88th St. , and over the years have had many near-misses and witnessed many more, as well as major collisions. With the increase in population and especially vehicles, the emphasis patrols are very much needed.
Amen !!! It’s about time !! The speeding scofflaws have been at their game for FAR TOO LONG.
I have been driving since 1964 (including 20 years in the US Army) and have had the occasion to drive in nearly every state in the Union, including Hawaii & Alaska. I have also driven in 6 European countries, as well as Vietnam. I have extensive experience driving all sorts of vehicles domestic & foreign (i.e., trucks, vans, passenger [large & small] ), as well as military transport (i.e., ¼ – 2.5 ton) and combat vehicles (i.e., tanks & APCs….even a WWII German Jagdpanzer).
And, over these 59 years, the only tickets I have ever gotten was for a parking violation (3). As far as accidents, there have been 4, and the other driver was at fault in all instances. Why so little? Because I learned early-on that you have to follow traffic laws and always drive defensively, i.e, watch out for the other driver at all times.
Unfortunately, especially in the past 10 years, or so, I have seen our streets and hi-ways turn into absolute bedlam.
Red Lights, Stop Signs, Yield Signs ? Ignored !!! Turn signals? Rarely !!
No-Passing Zones….I have been passed MULTIPLE TIMES in well-marked No-Passing Zones, including twice on the Interlakken bridge. And, even by people using the center, left-turn lanes(more aptly named “suicide”) lane as a passing lane !!
And the speeds that people are driving is absolutely ridiculous. The freeways are like driving on a race track ! And, it ain’t much better in towns. Would you believe we had a week-long speed study done on Lake Louise Drive (Speed Limit = 25 MPH) where we had results for SPEEDS IN EXCESS of:
• 35 MPH: 1,062
• 35-49.9 MPH: 1,927
• 50-89.9 MPH: 35
• 90+ MPH: 5
Oh yeah, the study was done AFTER the city installed Speed Radar Signs….one direction only, mind you.
Nice, safe place for people of all ages to walk, including to and from the 5 schools which surround Lake Louise, right? By some miracle no one person has been hit nor injured….yet.
FYI…in the 35 years we have been living on Lake Louise Drive we have observed at least one incident per year where someone has lost control of their vehicle and:
• damaged our property (e.g., tearing up the lawn);
• destroying plants, bushes, & yard lights; and
• scaring the hell out of us while working in the yard.
Around Lake Louise Drive there have been at least 4 really bad accidents where people have left the road and wound up in a ditch and severely damaging property…there was one incident where the vehicle came within a few feet of driving into the kitchen of a home.
Therefore, we are VERY much in favor of this emphasis patrol and hope more will come so that Lakewood can be a pleasant, quiet place to drive and walk. Further, we would like to invite some of those traffic officers to our neighborhood. We guarantee you will find Lake Louise Drive to be a “happy hunting ground”, particularly at lunch and commute times.
PS….I’ve known Larry Whalen since about 1988 when he lived down at 555 Lake Louise Drive and have seen him frequently cruising Steilacoom….good guy, damn good cop.
Good!! It’s about time!!! Lets have more days like tomorrow (Friday).
Wait. One. Minute.
Has anyone here not listened to a scanner lately? If these Bozo’s speed away they aren’t going to pursue. Duh.
I NEVER see police sitting for speeders. They are too short staffed to do so. Too much other crap going on. It’s an absolute sh-t show out there and scary as hell. Their hands are tied and when they pull over a potentially stolen vehicle with no plates-when the car takes off they don’t pursue. So armchair detectives-don’t get your hopes up! LoL. They aren’t keeping murderers in jail-you REALLY think patrolling for speeders for 12-24 hours is gonna CRACK DOWN on all this rigamarole? Their going to be too busy being called to armed robberies. Pssshhh.