5.1. SR 11-04-1996 t~~ To:
From:
Ell iver Date:
Police Department Subject:
Memorandum
ITEM 5.1. b. & C.
Mayor and City Counoil
Thomas D. Zerwas, Chief of Police~/.
October 31, 1996
T~AFFIC/PUBLIC PARKINO ENFORCEMENT UPDATE
I will be at the meeting on Monday, November 4, 1996, to update the
council on the semaphore violation enforcement on Highway 169 and
Highway 10. I will also address the concern of private parties
attempting to sell vehicles in our City's public parking areas and
road right of way.
kma
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 723 · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-2324 · Fax (612) 441-8937
Police chief'
Zero tolerance
on running red
by Joni Astrup
Associate editor
.Three area law enforcement
agencies will team together to
crack down on people who run
red lights, in the aftermath of
a fatal car accid&nt in Elk
River last month.
Elk River Police Chief Tom
Zerwas said his department,
the Sherburne County
Sheriff's Department and the
Minnesota State Patrol have
agreed to place more emphasis
on ticketing people who run
red lights.
"Our position is zero toler-
ance,"Zerwas said. ~Anyone
goingthrough is going to get a
citation."
No warnings will be given.
The fine for running a red
light is $71.50.
Zerwas said he will have offi-
cers working overtime to
enforce traffic laws. Some reg-
ular on-duty officers will also
be spending more time work-
lng traffic.
Sherburne County Sheriff
Bruce Anderson and the
Minnesota State Patrol have
also agreed to help out.
'Between our three agencies,
- we're going to increase
enforcement on (highways)
169 and 10 in the area of sem-
aph0res to try and address the
serious problem we're experi
encingf Zerwas said.
The action comes on the
heels of a fatal car accident in
Elk River on Sept. 20.
Lisa Schumacher, 43, was
Red continued to page 11
Red,
Continued from page 1 -:
killed when a utility vehicle
hit her car as she turned left;
onto Highway 169 at School
Street.
A witness said Schumacher
had a green arrow and that
the driver of the utility vehicle
did not stop. ..-
Sherburne County Attorney
Walter Kaminsky is still
reviewing the case to deter-
mine ffthe driver of the ufflity
Wednesday, October 16, 19961 Elk River. Star News / 11
vehicle should be charged. '
Kaminsky said Monday that
he is waiting for a diagram of
.the accident scene from the
Minnesota' State Patrol and
for the results of blood alcohol
tests on the utility vehicle dri-
ver.
Schumacher's blood alcohol
test results showed no sign of
alcohol, Kaminsky said.
A national problem
Zerwas said while some peo-
pie think rurming red lights !s
an Elk River problem, its
more than that~
aIn actuality, it's a natio~ml
problem," Zerwas said.
Sheriff Anderson, mean-
while, said Friday that one of
his deputies just tagged a dri-
vet for running a red light at
the School Street-Highway
;
;
169 intersection. ','
"There has been a lot of con-
.cern about those intersections
and we will do what we can to
assist Elk River on that.'
The sheriff's department,
which is the sole law enforce-
merit agency in Zimmerman,
will also be closely monitoring
the County Road 4 and
Highway 169 intersecfSon.