From city Communications Director Brett Broesder:
This Memorial Day weekend the Bridgeport Police Department will be increasing traffic enforcement given the high volume of travel expected over the holiday.
“Police will be out in full force this weekend,” said Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. “The increased traffic combined with the holiday means the department will be extra vigilant to keep the people of Bridgeport safe.”AAA predicts that 37.2 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home this weekend, with 31.3 million expected to drive, a 5.3 percent increase over the previous year.
“The Park City is dedicated to keeping Bridgeport kids and families safe and secure,” said Mayor Bill Finch. “We’re focused on building a city that is more walkable, which makes pedestrian safety an even greater priority for our city. That’s why the efforts of the Bridgeport Police Department to crack down on dangerous driving this busy weekend is so important. Thanks to the hardworking police officers for helping to make Bridgeport a safer, better place to live.”
The Bridgeport Police Traffic Division is also in the middle of the ‘Click It Or Ticket’ (CIOT) Enforcement Campaign. The campaign runs from May 18th through May 31st. Funds are being made available through the State Of Connecticut Dept of Transportation to cover the cost of the additional deployments.
“This campaign is about saving lives,” said Mayor Bill Finch. “Our officers, along with departments around the state, are working hard to keep people safe.”
On just the first day of the ‘Click It Or Ticket’ campaign the Bridgeport Traffic Division issued 57 seat belt tickets and cited motorists for an additional 14 violations.
“We need to increase enforcement and crack down on those who don’t wear their seat belts to help prevent crash fatalities,” said Chief Gaudett.
We are short-staffed police officers but we are going to have them checking for seat belts. Must be paying overtime.
Well Bob, for all your years on the city council doing nothing you sure know nothing about the police dept. They have a traffic division that handles all these details from seatbelts to cellphones and have issued over 1000 tickets since the campaign started and it is being paid for by a state grant so what difference if it’s on straight time or overtime?
tallguy316, the difference is overtime is calculated into all Bridgeport police officers’ pensions which are funded in part by Bridgeport taxpayers.
tallguy316,
Crackdowns on cell phone usage and seatbelt issues have been reported by the CT Post recently, but you must be an insider for knowing the count on actual tickets issued (and perhaps the fines that will be generated).
We understand police officers as well as the City contribute towards retirement benefits for those who are active at this time. We know the State retirement plan will pay the benefit. We also know the retirement benefit is based on the highest three years of compensation while an officer. So a patrolman under City Plan A or Plan B when meeting the requirements for full pension in years worked could expect to receive 50% of the then-payments for his patrol, sergeant or lieutenant pay scale.
What is different today is the retirement pay limitation is not the then-standard pay for your grade but the highest three years of compensation including inside and external overtime. Former officers today in retirement are receiving an amount annually that is greater than their base pay, without overtime, when working. That’s the contract, but who today is responsible for providing the dollars to meet the benefit?
I have asked this question on OIB a number of times. No response. Someone must know with all the negotiating on contracts, agreements between the Finch administration and State leaders, and pension funding schedules (not discussed by the Budget and Administration Committee in public sessions for several years).
If pensions have doubled, taxpayers will have to make up the difference, but will those payers be City of Bridgeport alone or State of CT primarily? Time will tell.