From the Harford County Sheriff’s Office:
[June 26, 2012, Bel Air, MD] – Leaders from Harford County’s allied law enforcement agencies gathered at the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Southern Precinct on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, to sign a Memo of Understanding officially ratifying the creation of the Harford County Traffic Task Force.
The purpose of the multi-agency law enforcement based Harford County Traffic Task Force is to reduce traffic fatalities, traffic crashes and traffic violations which occur within Harford County, through enforcement and education. Members of the Harford County Traffic Task Force will operate throughout the County in targeted areas to enforce traffic related laws including, but not limited to: use of safety belts and child safety seats, driving under the Influence and Driving while Intoxicated, Speeding and Aggressive Driving and all other violations of Maryland’s Transportation Article.
The Harford County Traffic Task Force, led by the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, consists of members from Aberdeen Police Department, Bel Air Police Department, Havre de Grace Police Department and the Maryland State Police (Bel Air and JFK Barracks).
Participation In Harford County Traffic Task Force is Crucial
“As leader of the Harford County’s primary law enforcement agency, I feel it is my responsibility to do everything possible to provide for the public’s safety. With that in mind, traffic–particularly in light of the high fatality rates, is one of our agency’s key issues being addressed at this time.”
Sheriff L. Jesse Bane – Harford County Sheriff’s Office
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“Having the added resources of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, Aberdeen Police Department, Bel Air Police Department, Havre De Grace Police Department, troopers from JFK Barrack, and members of the community and Harford County Government is a win-win for all stakeholders. We will be able to provide complete saturation of identified “high crash” areas with the added resources and further improve our ability to improve driving behaviors of our citizens. Additionally, further partnering with our citizens and government entities will enable the task force to expand our ability to influence other factors that can influence driving behaviors, i.e., having citizen task force members participate alongside law enforcement during community/school presentations. Harford County law enforcement and governmental entities remain committed to improving the quality of life of our citizens by this cohesive and innovative approach to traffic safety.”
Lt. Charles A. Moore – Maryland State Police – Bel Air Barracks
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“Traffic safety is an important component of the overall mission of the Aberdeen Police Department. We are committed to reducing the number of deaths and injuries due to traffic accidents through rigorous campaigns of enforcement and public education. The opportunity to participate in the Harford County Traffic Task Force amplifies our ability to reduce traffic crashes as we begin our cooperative partnership with our allied agencies in a combined effort to make Harford County roads a safer place to travel.”
Chief Henry Trabert of the Aberdeen Police Department
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“The Harford County Traffic Task Force is important to the Town of Bel Air, because we have learned from our experiences that traffic safety can be achieved with education, awareness and enforcement. Our red light camera program has significantly reduced crashes at our major intersections. Bel Air is the shopping hub of the County with over 40,000 vehicles traveling through the Town each day on Route 24. This volume of traffic creates more of an opportunity for motor vehicles crashes. Combining the police enforcement resources of State, County and municipal agencies will make the Town roadways safer for our motorist, cyclist and pedestrians.”
Chief Leo Matrangola – Bel Air Police Department
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“The Harford County Traffic Task Force is an excellent way to partner with the other law enforcement agencies in our county and to show drivers that collectively we are all committed to safety on our roadways whether the enforcement action is speed management, safety belt or aggressive driving enforcement. Regardless of the type of enforcement effort or location our goal is to reduce crashes and fatalities throughout Harford County.”
Chief Teresa Walter – Havre de Grace Police Department
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This innovative partnership supported by the Maryland Highway Safety Office and the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention is designed to increase law enforcement’s visibility in identified problematic areas while maximizing shared resources. Following the rules of the road will prevent crashes and save lives.
Harford County needs to install red light and speed cameras throughout the County. We will never have enough LEOs to cover the entire County all the time which is exactly what this technology does. How many more accidents will there be at RT. 1 & RT. 152? If you install a red light camera there with plenty of signage, it will deter people from running it and causing more pain upon our people.
Red light cameras do not create a more compliant driving public, their primary function is revenue enhancement.
Studies have shown that red light cameras increase rear-end collisions as people panic stop during the yellow instead of safely traversing the intersection. The yellow light timing is also commonly manipulated to be considerably shorter than the speed limit demands.
I agree with the theory of properly designed and functioning red light cameras, but allowing manipulation of the timing and giving the camera owner (in cases where municipalities lease cameras from private companies) a profit-sharing incentive are in conflict with both safety and fairness. Another problem is when the fines are considered civil infractions rather than criminal, so the driver cannot invoke their right to challenge their accuser in court.
Here’s your data John… from WBAL. Argue with them.
“At one intersection in Westminster where there was a red-light camera there were more rear-end collisions than red-light collisions.
So few drivers were running red lights and getting tickets that the city is losing money.
In March in 2010, the city of Westminster installed five red-light cameras.
The only red-light camera in Westminster that’s still up and running is at Route 97 and Nursery Road. Police said it’s still needed there.
“In the last year, we had a high number of violations cited at that intersection, nearly $2,500 red-light citations issued there. So we know we still have a problem with red-light running there,” said Police Chief Jeffrey Spaulding, Westminster, Carroll County.
Seven months after the five original red-light cameras were installed, two were deactivated. As of Tuesday, two of the three remaining cameras, which were at Route 97 and Route 140, were also shut down.
As it turned out, at Route 97 and Route 140 they had more rear-end collisions than red-light accidents.
“(There were) 11 total rear-end collisions over the two-year period. These are the more serious collisions I’m referring to,” Spaulding said.
The cameras cost the city $2,250 a month to operate and since such few drivers were running red lights, it was costing the city money.
“These cameras were not in a break-even mode. Were we still having people running the lights in large numbers and were we stilling having collisions in the red-light running? And in the case of the two intersections where the cameras were removed, the answer was ‘No.’ We weren’t having red-light running citations, therefore there was no need to have the cameras there,” Spaulding said.”
I used to see the police running radar in the tollgate road area several times a week. This stopped about 4 years ago. People fly by here, and I worry about kids getting hit. Now I never see the police doing radar.
I asked my friend the same question he is a harford county deputy. He said that they dont have time to run radar most of the time because they are going call to call. I have noticed in my area on wheel road they have not run radar in a long time. My friend also said that alot of people were moved from patrol duties into other units and never replaced. I like the idea of this taskforce but what about putting people back on patrol?
Traffic Task Force led by Jesse Bane? OMG!
OMG, I hope you don’t breed!
Porter:
Do you have any statistics to back up your statement?
Use your head John. How can I help you do that if you refuse to observe? I wont do research for you. I look forward to a society where right and wrong is dependent on a video controlled by the government.
Thanks Sheriff Bane in your effort to address this ever increasing problem. Too many people have already lost their lives.
Kyle: Bane is just taking credit for something he did not create. He’s just jumping on the bandwagon like he always does. Go back into the Dagger archives and read the letter written by former Sheriff Golding about Bane lying to take credit for stuff he had nothing to do with.
This has politics written all over it.
@ Kyle read other posts about the Sheriff’s Office his own people dont even have faith in him. In the five years he has been in office he has destroyed the Sheriff’s Office.
On the other hand my good friend is a State Trooper and said that Lt Moore takes care of his people and knows what being a cop is all about.
And the fact that you and the rest of Marc’s minions and sycophants have dominated this forum with your venom should simply be dismissed as coincidence. At least Kyle used his real name. You and others like you hide your identity, presumably because if someone shown a light on you, you would actually scurry like cockroaches for cover. I don’t buy anything that you people say… I will think for myself and your anger and hate will not influence me otherwise. You have no credibility. And it’s your hate that destroys it.
Hi David A Porter, they told me you were talking about me over here. I agree with you and I hate to say it about red light cameras and radar cameras. David A Porter no one spews more hate then you. I am amazed though that you are an expert on so many topics. I worked traffic my last six years and we were a three man unit for the County. This should have happened years ago. Usually Bane would take credit for a fart in church if he could but I really didn’t see where he claimed credit for this.
Lt Joe VanSeeters ran the traffic unit when I was there, he found grants and bought radar sets and increased the number of sets on the streets. Patrol has to answer calls for service first and when they had the chance they worked on RADAR request.
Marc’s minions and sycophants thank you for noticing the work we are doing on here. Thank you David A Porter.
Not hard to find out Marc with so much of your time devoted to trashing Bane even on unrelated topics to elevate your self esteem. Tell me, is this what you do for a living? Are you really this hateful towards Bane that your waking moments are involved in posting on the Dagger? What is your day job? Do you work for HCSO anymore – and if not, is there a reason you can’t share? I’ll say it again, Marc, get you and your friends together, adopt arm bands, and create a salute so you can identify each other on the street and show the respect each other the respect you rightfully imagine you deserve. Eventually you will fill the air with so much disinformation and fear that you will get what you want. Megalomania.
Dear David A Porter, I am an EVOC instructor. Your a smart guy figure it out. Seriously, do you think Bane would keep me around they way I go at him? David A Porter you know why I retired so stop playing dumb. Again, I hate no man, not even you. I hate what this person has done to my friends and MY department. He is a coward, and a bully like you. You put anyone down who disagrees with you. Hey buddy, I agreed with you in my post and you gave me no credit. I have time after work to get on here because I am not 100 percent yet from back surgery. Even when that time comes I will keep up with the Dagger and you. Once Bane is gone I will go away. David A Porter, brother you have to have a hobby. Seeing Bane walk out a looser in 2014 is my hobby right now. So keep coming at me with your big words, I wish I knew which one you were on the command staff. Well, maybe one day I will know. Email me, call me we can talk. Or do you just use big words and bully from behind a computer screen? Also, do you find it amazing that so many of your posts are hidden do to low viewer comment? What does that tell you? Does it bug you and your fellow FOJ members that I will not shut up? Putting me down has not worked. Using our big words has not worked. Your vague references to my retirement have not worked. What else will you try next. David A Porter, I have more supporters then Bane does right now. What does that tell you? Call me David A Porter. Be careful they are looking for speeders and I would not want you to get a ticket.
Poor Marc…I’m bullying you? You’re a guy that feeds off the orifices of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. I’m so sorry you feel put upon. I hope you seek counseling to help you with your esteem issues. I’m glad you take some solace in the knowledge that imaginary people have your back by expressing thumbs up without identifying themselves or by using titles that conceal their real identities. Please keep coming here Marc. I think this must be good therapy for you. Maybe you should get a dog for additional unconditional love.
David A Porter, you don’t bully me, you can’t. As for the rest of the crap your posting you need help. I picture you in your basement wearing a wife beater with dried mustard on it and gray sweat pants on your computer. How far off am I. Think what you want and try to smear me do your best. You will not win or beat me.
This was your answer to my post. You are out there David A Porter. Keep up the fight for your man. Lets see how long it is until that post is hidden David A Porter.
@Kyle,
Hold your praise. Pot Hole Patrol is right. Bane did nothing but grandstand for the cameras. Credit goes to the state police!
If traffic is such a big issue maybe someone should ask ol’ Jessi why his traffic unit took a huge number of radar units away from patrol and special service deputies. Supposedly they took these perfectly usable units and returned them for a credit towards new ones. Sounds like waste to me.
Or a sensible way to use resources to obtain better quality items that may still be supported. Do you agonize when you trade in a car how it will be perceived that you took it away from yourself for a new one?
No but in a time of budget cuts and tightening purse strings why take perfectly good, usable equipment out and purchase new stuff? A small credit towards a thousand dollar item is still money that could be spent on other things.
Why is it so hard to believe that people in the agency have seen these things and witnessed these things and are speaking out? Why is it hard to believe that people are intentionally targeted by his command staff? Who are you friends with on the command staff that keeps blowing this sunny picture of the agency up your butt?
Hey, pay attention… I’ve said this before and I will say it again for those of you with short attention spans. I do not work for HCSO nor do I know Sheriff Bane personally. I’m an engineer. But even I can identify personal animosity when I see it posted in a forum.
And I’ll say it again sine you replied to my post apparently without reading. I asked who you were friends with “on the command staff.” I didn’t accuse you of being friends with ol L-Jessi in that post. The only people with the rosy picture of the agency are his minions on the command staff so it is safe to assume that’s who you are getting your information from. So, perhaps read more and post less is the order of the day. And my attention span is fine, but if you want to turn this into a personal thing I am more then happy to.
Oh, and here’s another nugget of info: Bane won’t do anything in this county unless another agency has it. When people take proposals to him he always asks if anyone else does that. If they don’t, and it’s a new idea no matter how good, it sits on his desk while he “considers” it. If another department does use whatever idea you have, he immediately puts it into place but takes credit for “original thinking.”
Getting rid of good sets makes no sense, but remember who your dealing with. I did a proposal in 1987 on traing K-9 with Balyimore City. This went into the black hole never to be seen again. Nothing has changed and never will. Remember traffic violators vote.
I am 11 years old. After I put my thoughts on line I never believed people could be so mean. I am so sorry I did that.
Kyle, do not become disillusioned when you meet resistance from people. All your life you will find people at odds with you over things that you feel are honorable. To give up just because that occurs would be unfair to you, and the person you may try to be. They will always be present in your life, just simply lower your expectations for other people and continue to operate your life with higher expectations for yourself.
Live your life and never worry too much about the opinions of people you don’t know.
However, it’s my opinion that nobody should freely use any of their real personally identifiable information on the internet, but I especially feel that way about minors.
I suggest in the future that you try not to do that on an open and public website. Talk to your parent or guardian about it.
At 11 years old, it’s a violation of The Dagger’s Terms of Service to use the “service” under 13 years old, so I would hope that the site administrator would err on the side of caution and modify these postings.
I think that this post was by someone else and that is why it was put on here. The Dagger monitors this site and I think they would have caught that. I think it was David A Porter talking to himself again.
Marc… you really do need to seek counsel for your paranoia.
Wow, David A Porter is now posting as an 11 year old and having conversations with himself. That is just weird.
Im sorry David A Porter, I forgot to ask. What railroad do your work for?
The information seek has been freely expressed elsewhere… the fact that you only troll articles relating to Jesse Bane indicates your narrow area of interest driven by your personal animosity.
Mr. Porter, from my perspective you seem to be the one who wants to generate conversation about Sheriff Bane, and troll sites on the Dagger in an attempt to keep conversation going regarding the Sheriff’s Office.
Barbara… that would make you vapid and clueless. Thank you for joining the noise. I know what to expect from you in the future.
Oh, if you knew me you would not think I was dull. I can be quite stimulating given the right circumstances. You, on the other hand, seem to be very self centered and quite taken with yourself.
Great post Random
Why do you keep blocking my posts. I have said nothing wrong dagger please stop it!