Police report new traffic hotline is performing well
Received 69 calls in June, up from 4 in Feb.
By Katherine Peters

The Chesterfield Police Department's new traffic hotline gives residents a speedy way to report dangerous drivers in the county. All complaints are reviewed by the department's traffic unit and forwarded to the appropriate district station.

Police officers aren't the only ones on the lookout for speeders and reckless drivers in Chesterfield. Now, county residents are getting in on the action through a new traffic hotline monitored by the Chesterfield Police Department.

Since setting up the hotline last March, "We have seen an increase in the amount of people that are reporting complaints," said Sgt. Clinton Schott.

Through the hotline, citizens can report "chronic, ongoing traffic problems that need to be addressed," explained Schott.

Although the number of complaints called into the hotline varies daily, the total number of calls jumped from four in February to 83 in April. In May and June, there were 72 and 69 calls respectively.

The most common complaints received are for speeding, running red lights and illegally parked vehicles.

Schott says the dedicated phone line was designed to ensure that every traffic complaint gets reported and answered.

Before the hotline, citizens did not have a designated phone number to report traffic concerns, resulting in "hit or miss" situations in addressing the complaints.

Now that a central number is available, the police have seen a sharp decrease in the number of complaints being phoned into the department's front desks, making it much easier to process each call.

Under the new system, all messages are reviewed by the department's traffic analyst and shared with both the traffic unit and the appropriate district police station.

The officer responsible for the location of the problem is notified at the beginning of his shift, enabling him to review the complaint and take appropriate action, such as running radar in an area where speeding might be a problem.

Every complaint is also logged, eliminating the need for repeated calls. "We don't hit the erase button," Schott said. "[Each complaint] is addressed on a daily basis [on weekdays] and first thing Monday morning," if the complaint is made over the weekend.

Schott said people have occasionally made emergency calls to the hotline, which the hotline is not designed to handle. Situations that need immediate police attention, such as an accident or a drunk driver on the road, should still be called into 911.

Hotline how-to To report a traffic concern in Chesterfield, call the traffic hotline at 318-8084 and leave a message with your name, telephone number and a brief description of your concern. The hotline operates 24 hours a day. Traffic concerns can also be emailed to ccpd@chesterfield.gov.