BRENHAM POLICE DEPARTMENT LOOKING TO REAPPLY FOR STEP GRANT

  

One of the first steps a law enforcement agency must take to apply for a grant through the Texas Department of Transportation’s Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) is to research the need for the grant. The STEP program encompasses several areas, one of which is speed.

The Brenham Police Department is in the last month of the 2014-2015 STEP grant. Prior to implementing the grant, the department conducted surveys along US 290 East and West, as well as the frontage roads, to determine if traffic enforcement was needed there. The result?

“Absolutely it’s needed. We have drivers coming into the city limits thinking its 75 miles per hour, so they’re doing 85. And they come off the highway onto the frontage roads, which have a reduced speed rate and local traffic, and they don’t slow down,” said Sgt. Kelvin Raven.

Raven is one of the officers who participates in working the grant off duty and can attest to the need.

“Most of the drivers we stop are from out of town. They come in, assuming its 75 and are going at least 85. We’ve clocked several over 100. And they want to try and exit onto the feeder road – that’s just too fast to come off into traffic,” he said.

The STEP grant provides funding to allow off duty officers to work traffic control in designated areas which means on duty officers can continue their regular duties. Raven has participated in every STEP grant the Department has received.

“Over the years I’ve participated in traffic enforcement through the grant program, I have seen both speeding and speeding violations increase. Now oncoming cars don’t even pull over or slow down when they see we have a vehicle stopped on the highway. At least when we had the stop light at Blue Bell and US 290, people had to slow down. Of course, that had its own problems – that was a dangerous intersection,” he said. “We’ve also had narcotics and other felony arrests come from stopping someone from speeding.”

“This grant is definitely worthwhile and definitely needed. It allows us to ensure the safety of travelers both on US 290 and on the frontage roads. And since the officers working it are off duty, it gives our on duty officers the ability to focus on the safety of our residents,” Raven said.