From patrolling high-incident areas to issuing citations, police officers make a concerted effort to keep the streets of Glenview safe on a daily basis. But the effort only works, in large part, because of help from many engaged and concerned residents.
According to Sergeant Humberto Sanchez, head of the Traffic Dnit, stop sign and red light traffic enforcement is a police beat that remains in constant flux.
“It changes every month depending on what information we receive and we usually get that information from people complaining,” he said. “You know residents complaining, ‘Oh, there’s cars speeding on my street. Can you increase patrolling in the area?’”
In April, the department targeted and sought to address a number of hotspots in town, including the intersections of Pleasant and Highland Lanes, Blue Stem Lane and Thistle Road, and Patriot Boulevard and Independence Boulevard.
The police department receives complaints from people in the community on an ongoing basis. Residents often express their concerns regarding drivers blowing through stops signs and speeding. Each month, information on stop sign and red light enforcement is compiled and dished out to the public and officers work to address the issues that occur.
The overall intent of stop sign and red light enforcement, according to Sanchez, is to keep everyone safe.
“Our point is we don’t want people to speed basically,” he said. “The more information we get out, the more people are educated, and they won’t speed or commit traffic violations. Every month, it changes depending on what calls we receive from residents.”
Sanchez shared an update on stop sign and red light traffic enforcement with The Glenview Lantern and explained the most notable takeaways.
“We learned is that most people do not know the speed limit in Glenview is 20 miles per hour on all residential streets,” he said, noting how the department sees speeding on side streets.
In an effort to better enforce the rules of the road, the village’s ‘It’s Our Town, Please Slow Down’ campaign was rebranded last year.
“Part of it is putting those hotspots in the paper so residents are aware of it,” he said. “Second, residents can get [lawn signs] and put them on the front of their lawn. It has a speed limit on it. It says, ’20 miles per hour. It’s Our Town, Please Slow Down.’”
According to Sanchez, these signs feature a new design to make sure they stick out as people drive by. They’re meant to serve as a reminder in places where speed limits are not always marked.
“A lot more people are getting signs,” he said. “It’s free. They contact the village, they pick up the signs, or we deliver them... Education is always the best. The more you educate the people, the less problems you have, the less crime, the less speeding, the less traffic violations, it works on all aspects.”
Sanchez added that he’s noticed a decrease in certain areas since the rebranding of the campaign.
“I’ve seen areas that have totally changed, where before there were a lot of people speeding, and now you don’t even find anyone speeding anymore on it,” he said. “I think that’s due to police presence [the traffic campaign].’”
In response to the debate and ongoing research on red light cameras and their effectiveness, Sanchez said he’s not sure where he stands on whether a need exists at this time.
Glenview doesn’t currently have any red light cameras posted at any of its stoplights and Sanchez said there are no immediate plans to implement them.