Eastbayri.com

BARRINGTON — Barrington Police Chief John LaCross received a phone call on a recent weekday morning from a resident who was angry. The man said he was upset because his wife was stopped earlier that morning by local police and the officer had given her a ticket for speeding.

“She actually got a break,” said Chief LaCross. “She was only ticketed for five over ... the man was upset because she mentioned my name and still got the ticket. I said ‘You've got to be kidding. My friends don’t mention my name.’

“I know this person ... but if you get caught speeding, you get caught speeding.”

The long-time law enforcement officer — John LaCross was a Rhode Island State Police trooper for more than two decades before becoming Barrington’s chief — expects his officers to engage in traffic enforcement whenever they are not actively involved in an investigation, handling a complaint report or responding to some other police action.

“There are no ticket quotas,” he said, but “I do ask them (police officers) to stop a couple of cars during a shift.”

Chief LaCross said the officers are encouraged to use their discretion when ordering vehicle stops during traffic enforcement patrols and when deciding whether to issue tickets for violations. He added that there are benefits from the increased traffic enforcement.

“The more (police) lights you see, the more visibility for the department ... it’s taxpayers’ dollars at work. We want to show criminals that we’re out there. It can be a deterrent (to crime),” he said.

“It’s my upbringing from 33 years of law enforcement: you are accountable for eight hours of work a day. You are accountable for serving the public from the time you get on to the time you leave.”

Some residents feel that the department’s approach with active traffic enforcement borders on harassment — a point that was illustrated in November when a woman grew so frustrated during a traffic stop in town that she reportedly grabbed and broke the officer’s pen while he was issuing her a ticket. (She was subsequently charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and vandalism/malicious injury to property.)

Chief LaCross counters that many times officers are actually issuing lesser fines — or verbal warnings in many cases — for motorists who violate traffic laws.

“People need to realize that we’re out there to keep everyone safe,” he said. “If your (car’s) taillight is out and you get rear-ended, maybe we could have prevented that accident.

“If people are complaining, they should really look at their speedometer and see what speed they’re traveling. You shouldn’t be going 40 in a 25 ... everything is reduced in residential neighborhoods.”

The chief also said that routine traffic enforcement will often lead to the discovery of other infractions. For example, it has occurred in Barrington where a police officer may stop a car for speeding or not having a license plate light only to discover that the driver is intoxicated or that there’s an arrest warrant issued for the individual.

“If you’re a good cop you’re looking for probable cause to stop a vehicle, especially after midnight,” Chief LaCross said. “That’s what you’re being paid for.”

The chief said he believes aggressive traffic enforcement will lead to safer roadways and less crime in Barrington neighborhoods during the overnight hours. He pointed to numerous examples where alert police officers actively pursuing traffic enforcement pulled drunk drivers off local roadways.

Chief LaCross also said two of his best arrests while serving with the state police surfaced during routine traffic stops. He recalled the day he pulled a vehicle over to the side of the road because it did not have a front license plate, only to discover that the car had been stolen. The people inside the car, said the chief, had just kidnapped another man, brought him to an ATM and forced him to withdraw money from his account at knife-point. The suspects then brought the man into a wooded section of Cranston, stripped him of his clothes and tied him to a tree. They then pulled the license plates off the car, placed a different plate on the rear of the vehicle and were fleeing from the scene when Chief LaCross and another trooper noticed the car was lacking a front plate.

“We had them (the suspects) before the victim had even reported it,” he said.

Chief LaCross said safety is enhanced when police officers are active with traffic enforcement.

“You could be preventing a house-break ... shame on you (if you didn’t prevent a crime) because you didn’t want to stop someone.”

Each stop is different

Three-to-one. That’s the ratio of warnings issued for traffic violations to actual tickets written by Barrington police officers. Chief LaCross said the numbers might surprise some people, especially those who feel that the department’s approach teeters on harassment.

The chief also said that officers use discretion when handling each traffic stop.

“On an annual basis there are a lot more warnings issued than there are tickets,” he said. “Not all situations are the same. Every car stop is different.”

Strong support for police policy

Dan Converse makes no attempt to hide his bias — he fully supports the local police department’s policies concerning traffic enforcement.

The longtime resident said the Barrington Police Department has every right to take an assertive approach toward stopping vehicles for traffic and equipment violations: “The law is the law and you really can’t complain about it,” he said. “You break the law, you have to pay the consequences. You don’t wear your seat belt and you pay the consequences. Sometimes the worst kind.”

Mr. Converse’s leanings can be traced to a single car accident that took place in early November 2007. The accident, which occurred on New Meadow Road, claimed the life of Mr. Converse’s 16-year-old son, Jon. The young Barrington High School student was a passenger in a car that had been speeding down the road; the driver lost control of his car just south of the intersection with Massasoit Avenue and the vehicle slammed into a tree. Jon, who wasn’t wearing his seat belt, was the only one of the car’s four occupants who was killed.

Mr. Converse said he understands why people can sometimes grow frustrated when an officer stops them for speeding or rolling through a stop sign, but he believes frustrations aside, drivers need to follow the rules.

“If they could just see it from the other side, the preventative side,” he said. “The person who got stopped for the taillight out, you’ll never know if they would have gotten in a crash because of that taillight.

“I would not be talking to you right now if there had been an officer cruising New Meadow Road that night, if an officer had seen that car driving erratically. Maybe it would have made them slow down or maybe he would have pulled them over. ... Jon would be at college or at a job or at home sleeping right now.”

Mr. Converse has taken the painful experience of losing his son and tried to turn it into something positive. He frequently speaks at the Zero Fatalities Program at the ACI, sharing stories with high school-age kids in an effort to deter them from making bad decisions. He also speaks at police officer training programs around the state.

“I tell them it’s one thing to have a good rapport with people in the community ... but you’re not going to make a lot of friends pulling people over, but that’s your job. Whether it’s the police chief’s daughter or your next door neighbor. It doesn’t matter. It’s your job to pull them over,” he said.

Mr. Converse said he’s built a closer relationship with local police department since his son’s death and appreciates the stance taken by Chief John LaCross.

“I think the chief is right on track with what he’s doing. I think a lot of it is preventative. You’re going to hear the criticism everywhere you go, but it’s still your job,” Mr. Converse said.