The Rockingham Police Department is urging motorists to slow down when traveling through downtown Rockingham.
Police Chief Bill Kelly said that he received a complaint from a resident about people speeding through the downtown area. He then notified the traffic team which consists of four officers; Officer Marcus Ricks, Officer Clint Neeley, Officer Brandon Lugabihl and Officer Eric Culbreth.
The department put a speed trailer out to warn residents to slow down and to also see if the speeding claim was legitimate. After a period of time, they took action.
A speed trailer is a device that shows the posted speed limit at the top and what speed the driver is traveling at the bottom.
As of Jan. 16, the officers had written 37 citations just for speeding.
Kelly said that 37 citations in an almost two-week period is a high number.
“The goal is not to write citations, but to get people to slow down and keep them safe,” Kelly said.
They are currently doing a speed study of the downtown area that gives the officers a history of how fast people are traveling and the times speeding is occurring. Kelly said that lets the officers know the time that people are speeding the most.
He said they have done speed studies in the past, on roadways like Aslington Street, and the studies help the officers not waste time and pinpoint the problem times and areas.
Ricks said he has seen an improvement so far and has noticed people are slowing down.
Kelly said that the officers will be doing city-wide enforcements.
“If they come speeding through the city, they will get a citation,” said Kelly.
— Staff Writer Laura Edington can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 18, or by email at ledington@civitasmedia.com.
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