|
Home Search |
Published on Wednesday, July 3, 2002
in the Palatka Daily News
One perception of the Florida Highway Patrol is of the trooper hiding in tall weeds, behind a tree or around a curve -- lying in wait for the unfortunate motorist who "honestly didn't realize" they were going that fast.
That's one view particularly popular among the recently ticketed but the FHP's Palatka district commander works hard to cultivate another.
"Our marked cars are out in the open. We're not hiding behind trees," said Capt. Brent Coates. "When you're out there and you see a black and yellow (FHP) car, the natural reaction is to slow down.
"That's what we want for people to slow down, buckle up and drive safe."
It is that kind of proactive attitude that has led to Troop G repeating as FHP's "Top Troop."
The designation comes with winning the "Troop Challenge" for the second time in as many years the program has existed. Each of Florida's 10 geographic FHP troops are judged by an independent panel of national traffic safety experts, according to an FHP release.
Troop G includes the Palatka district covering Putnam, St. Johns and Flagler counties along with two Jacksonville districts and an Ocala district.
Coates is understandably proud of his district's part in the honor.
"They've only done this two years and we've won both years," he said. "Last year, they used our model from our troop for all of the Florida Highway Patrol.
"There's many things they judged. One is that we are more proactive than reactive such as the seat belt blitz over Memorial Day. We're out there trying to educate and boost the voluntary compliance rate."
Another example Coates offered was the May 31 roadside safety checkpoint in which FHP cooperated with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the Palatka and Crescent City police departments. It resulted in numerous arrests for traffic-related offenses and one drug arrest during a five-hour span along the 400 block of Reid Street in Palatka.
A similar operation, targeting impaired drivers, is coming up in Crescent City on Friday.
"We work with the sheriff's offices and police departments on traffic enforcement to make it a cooperative effort," Coates said. "It's not just one agency."
It's not about awards, either.
"The overall goal is to reduce the number of traffic crashes and the fatalities and injuries that are a result of those crashes," Coates said.