Seat belt-child seat police ‘blitz’ results given
Law enforcement agencies from Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties joined the state of Oregon in a 14-day traffic enforcement blitz dedicated to proper safety belt and child restraint use from February 10 through February 23.
Local agencies included the Bend Police Department, Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Prineville Police Department, and Redmond Police Department.
Participating agencies provided regular and overtime enforcement focused on child restraint (safety belts and boosters), texting, speeding and other moving violations with funds from the US Department of Transportation, with the following results:
Three Bend Police Department Officers worked a total of 12 hours of grant-funded overtime focusing on Safety Belt enforcement, resulting in 10 citations for safety belts, four speeding violations, three suspended driving citations, 10 other traffic citations/warnings, and one felony arrest.
Redmond Police Department seat belt enforcement activity resulted in six seat belt citations, three speed citations, two no driver’s license, and one unlawful use of a mobile device.
The Crook County Sheriff’s Office worked three shifts during the blitz for a total of 12 hours resulting in 27 stops: 19 for failure to wear seat belt or seat belt misuse, one for using a cell phone while driving (the driver was texting and driving), and four for suspended drivers where there vehicles were impounded.
Prineville Police Department performed a successful blitz resulting in tickets issued for the following: two seat belt tickets,two2 speeding tickets, three felony arrests and several warnings for other violations.
The Bend Police Department encourages all drivers and passengers to use their seat belts at all times while traveling in a motor vehicle. Two more seat belt blitzes are scheduled for 2014. For additional information, please contact Lieutenant Kurt Koester at the Bend Police Department at 541-322-2960.
