left-right Cpl. Pete Scatena (Hillsborough PD), Ofc. Travis Murray (FCPD), Deputy Craig McCarty (SMSO), Officer Mike Cecchi (Belmont PD),
Officer Nick Kempel (Burlingame PD), Officer Aaron Wong (SBPD), Officer Jesse Ledesma (SSF PD), Cpl Don Olsen (SSF PD), Officer Chris Grant
(Colma PD), Deputy Todd Schindler (SMSO), Deputy Rick Cheechov (SMSO), Officer Jenna Grimaldi (FCPD), Sgt. Jay Kiely (Burlingame PD)
In response to shrinking budgets and staffing levels within their
respective agencies, the San Mateo County Police Chiefs and
Sheriff Association launched the San Mateo County Saturation
Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP). STEP is a collaborative
effort composed of traffic enforcement personnel from all of the law
enforcement agencies in San Mateo County. The mission of the
program is to increase traffic safety on the Peninsula in problem
areas and intersections through saturated enforcement utilizing
the combined resources from all of the county law enforcement
agencies thus complimenting the efforts of the individual agencies.
Participating officers are assigned to areas requiring selective
enforcement in San Mateo County based on collision data, community complaints, and expert officer opinion. The expectation is
that this collaborative monthly effort will provide immediate and
tangible solutions to traffic issues, and creating a safer San Mateo
County for motorists and pedestrians.
Collision data provided by participating agencies revealed in
2011, in excess of 1,939 motorists and pedestrians were injured due
to traffic collisions in the county. STEP’s mission is to significantly
reduce these numbers through joint enforcement deployments
and public education. Sheriff Greg Munks stated “The Sheriff’s
Office appreciates the opportunity to work with our partner law
enforcement agencies in keeping our communities safe. As we have
expanded our municipal law enforcement contracts, it has helped
us increase the safety of the public through traffic enforcement.”
STEP deployments occur on the third Wednesday of every
month, and all participating agencies liaison with the Burlingame
Police Department, in order to coordinate the various enforcement resources, and to identify specific traffic problems in San
Mateo County communities. Redwood
City Police Chief JR Gamez said, “The
STEP program developed by the Burlingame Police Department has been a game
changer in San Mateo County. The ability
to have sufficient resources to effectively
execute our traffic enforcement mission
has been an added dimension that allows
our motorists and residents to feel safer.”
The goal of the STEP Program is to
enhance traffic safety efforts in our county,
and provide an opportunity to address critical traffic safety issues
with an increased level of enforcement resources. Based on this
strategy, communities throughout San Mateo County are experiencing progressive strides towards safer streets. One of the participating agencies is the Belmont Police Department where Chief
Dan DeSmidt said, “Through the STEP program we can expand
our traffic enforcement resources exponentially to address specific
problem areas in each community.”
Since the inception of the STEP Program on January 16th
2013, 16 deployments have taken place in nearly every city on the
Peninsula, focusing on problem traffic areas and complaints. Over
the course of the past 16 months, this collaborative initiative issued
2,961 traffic citations and countless warnings throughout San
Mateo County. It is noteworthy that in spite of the remarkably high
number of traffic stops and citizen contacts, there has only been one
formal complaint filed.
According to San Mateo County District Attorney Steven M.
Wagstaffe, “The STEP effort has been an effective program for
enhancing public safety in our county. STEP personnel have made
SPRING 2014 | California Police Chief
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