Crossing Guards Or Traffic Directors? What's Does Stoneham Have?

A release from Stoneham Safety Officer Joseph Ponzo:

Not a week goes by when someone doesn’t call or email me to say “why are the crossing guards
directing me through a red light or stop sign?” There’s much confusion about the duties of crossing guards and traffic directors, so I decided to write an article to help clear the confusions for people.

First, a crossing guard is simply what the name says. They cross children at dangerous intersection, often using some sort of a stop sign. These crossing guards are often dressed in casual clothes and may volunteer the time, but they may also be paid by the town they are employed in. Crossing guards do not have any power to issue any sort of citations for motor vehicle infractions or parking violations and are not to disrupt the flow of traffic except to cross children at the designated area they are assigned to.

Once they put the stop sign up facing traffic, you are obligated to stop as if that sign as if it was
permanently mounted to the ground. If you are observed by a police officer whether on or off duty, you are subject to a civil motor vehicle infraction.

Secondly, let’s speak more in depth about a traffic director. Many communities in Massachusetts have crossing guards and not traffic directors. I would assume it’s cheaper for a community to hire a crossing guard rather than a traffic director. The town doesn’t have to outfit a crossing guard with expensive uniforms and doesn’t have to negotiate with unions for raises and increased benefits. Many crossing guards are controlled by the school department, but it’s not uncommon for a crossing guard to be under the direction of the local police department in that community.

Traffic directors on the other hand have much more authority under the law than a crossing guard. I can only speak for the Town of Stoneham, but Stoneham has Traffic Directors not Crossing Guards. By Law (Sec.10-63) of the Town of Stoneham by-laws, “School traffic directors shall be under the supervision of the Chief of Police and the Board of Selectman and shall have the power and authority, only while on duty, of regular police officers in all enforcement of Chapter 90, Section 17 of the General Laws and of all other laws and by laws of the town relating to the operation, standing or use of vehicles (3-8-65, Art 7).

This means that a Traffic Director can direct traffic to facilitate the flow of traffic and also for the
safe passage of the children. A Traffic Director’s powers are also expanded to issue motor vehicle traffic citations as well as motor vehicle parking citations. Although, the Stoneham Police Department doesn’t authorize Traffic Directors to issue motor vehicle citations due to safety reasons, a violator could be cited and mailed a motor vehicle citation in the mail for any infraction. Of course this is a last resort method used by the police department. We do however, allow the Traffic Directors to issue parking citations as part of our parking enforcement program in and around the Stoneham Square area. They can also issue a parking citation for any illegally parked motor vehicles in and around their traffic post.

Many of our traffic posts and we have 17 of them throughout town, have requirements about
“alleviating the traffic” even when children are not crossing. For example, the traffic post at Franklin Street and Stevens Street was imposed by the Selectman when Dunkin Donuts was authorized to build their business at that busy intersection. The selectman stated that Dunkin Donuts must pay for the traffic director at that location to safely cross the kids and to “alleviate the traffic” coming out of Stevens Street so there is not gridlock.

The traffic director at Main and Summer Street, has been directed by the Chief of Police to pull the traffic out of Summer Street onto Main Street to help with the safe passage of the cars coming in and out of the South School. Without this authority, the town would be a traffic nightmare. Some people feel the traffic directors do more harm than good, well that depends on if you’re the street being stopped by the traffic director, or the street being let out.

Please use care and caution and try and keep in mind this article when driving in and around these 17 traffic directors. It’s not an easy job when people are yelling at you all the time because they’re in a rush. It’s all about the safety of the children and motorists, not how quickly you get to point A from Point B. I hope this article helps clarify any misconceptions about traffic directors. They all do a great job during difficult situations.

Remember Safety First!