Police Target Speeders in School Traffic Safety Plan

For some Brookfield families, one of the papers that came home during the first week of school was a ticket.

A speeding ticket.

In an effort to improve traffic safety around schools, the Brookfield Police Department assigned officers to schools for a total of about 16 hours last week, writing tickets and issuing warnings to motorists.

In all, 86 citations for speeding and 21 written warnings were issued.

The department tapped state grant money provided by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Bureau of Traffic Safety to fund the four "traffic wave assignments." Each assignment involved three or four officers for a four-hour effort.

"Most of these violations were for exceeding the posted limit, not for exceeding 'school zone' limits that are only applicable when children are present," Police Capt. Phil Horter said. 

"The streets are permanently posted and the public needs to adhere to those posted limits, during school hours and outside of school hours," Horter said. "The recent effort hopes to serve as a reminder that schools are back in session and pedestrian traffic may be present."