Traffic police in New Providence put their new speedometers to the test Monday morning, as thousands of motorists made their commute for the start of the new school year.
Minister of National Security Marvin Dames recently told Eyewitness News that the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) would be utilizing the new gadgets on September 3 to ensure that the motoring public adhered to speed limits in school zones.
Inspector Coran Jennings said the new devices will make it easier for traffic cops to nab speeding motorists.
“These devices allow us to record video and photos of speeding vehicles and immediately produce a print out of the vehicle in question. It also records the speed that the driver was doing as well,” Jennings noted.
“This new equipment will now help us to strengthen our case in court when drivers want to challenge traffic tickets for speeding.”
Jennings said the traffic division crafted a strategic plan to ensure that there was no traffic build-up in popular bottleneck zones.
“We met last week Friday and we put measures in place today, where officers would manage those areas that we know are prone to traffic. We recorded no hiccups at all today, things went smoothly,” he shared.
Jennings said that officers do not expect the traffic situation to worsen until later in the week, when all schools are officially open.
While police crackdown on the rules of the road, schools such as Doris Johnson Senior High School tightened their grip on school security.
James Clarke, principal at Doris Johnson said, the school is equipped with five handheld body scanners.
“When kids know that you are checking they tend to hide the weapons outside before they come to school. Sometime, we will do random checks with the hand-held devices and once we do that, kids try to hide all their contraband and eventually they refrain from bringing them on campus,” noted Clarke.
Dames recently confirmed that the RBPF will continue its school policing programme.
The programme is aimed at minimizing instances of violence on school compounds.
That programme will be coupled with the introduction of closed circuit television (CCTV), according to Dames.
