The majority of people responding to the Argus-Courier’s April 5, 2012 online poll favor Petaluma Police using state grant funding to enforce drunk driving laws and to prevent pedestrian and bicycle collisions.  75.8 percent said they supported this, while 20.9 percent said they did not. Here are some of the comments:
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“I’m glad existing laws are being enforced, but I wish we didn’t depend so much on state and federal monies.”
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“I support the extra enforcement, especially for drunken drivers. It seems to me our drunken driving penalties are not strong enough. If they were, we would not have six, seven, eight or nine-time repeat offenders on our streets.”
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“Yes to use for all three. As a driver who commutes from Petaluma to Santa Rosa five days a week I have had to call 911 during my commute to report no less than three drivers “under the influence” during the past year — and those calls were placed between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.!”
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“I am not in favor of using the funds to torment otherwise law-abiding unlicensed drivers that would be licensed if they could.”
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“Bicyclists are out of control! Two dead being hit by bicyclists while the pedestrians were in the crosswalk. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened in Petaluma already.”

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“Get some funding for training the Petaluma Police Department to have better manners. Walk up to a citizen once in a while, greet us with a smile and ask how are day is going. Why don’t we have police officers who walk the “Beat” and get to know its fairly safe community. Start sending trainees to East Oakland. It’s not fair to us to be treated as criminals while they are in training.”

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“I’m not sure what the argument is all about when it comes to pedestrians and bicyclists. We all need to be courteous and pay attention on the roadway. The problem, as I see it, is that bicyclists and pedestrians are much less visible (as well as more vulnerable) when on the roadway. I think that these officers need to ride around, or bike around, our residential streets in the early evening to see how many of our youngsters (as well as adults) are riding around without lights or reflectors of any sort. When I was a kid, we had to obtain a bicycle license and have our bikes inspected. These bicyclists (and sometimes pedestrians) have no idea that they are often close to invisible. I have had so many close calls in my neighborhood that I generally drive about 15mph in the evening. You can’t just blame the motorists. The pedestrians and bicyclists need to share the responsibility and obey the laws that have been written to keep them safe.”

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“If there is money available for police work, grant it to our local departments and have them do the same consistent job everyday, not just when they’re paid extra to do it.”

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“Just another fund raiser!”

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“Maybe if some individuals would learn to obey the rules of the road, bicycle and pedestrian laws we would not have use for such funding. I think the Petaluma Police Department should forget about warnings and just cite everyone. Seems to be the only way to get a violator’s attention.”

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“Of Course.”

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“Our kids are afraid to step off the curb, they are afraid of looking at the police wrong. When you walk down the street to get a bite to eat at lunch time, and then get stop by the police and they ask to search your purse.”

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“Sick of drunks! Sick of cars not stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks! Sick of bicycles not obeying traffic laws but wanting the same rights as cars. Sick of both bikes and pedestrians thinking they can just cut in front of you anywhere anytime without looking because they think they are special and have the right.”

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“The grant money that the Petaluma Police Department received from the state was never used for drunk driving prevention. The real goal of their sobriety checkpoints is racial profiling of Latinos. This is insulting. Read the synopsis of their checkpoint results for proof. And they have only ever done token enforcement of bicycle laws. I would love to see the Petaluma Police Department use any money they can get to enforce bicycling laws, but they have to REALLY use it for that purpose and REALLY enforce the laws on a regular basis.”

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“The whole program is an overtime pay boondoggle for cops.”

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“This is a much-needed step by the police! It’s too bad that our council and bicycle committee never had the intelligence to push for this. However, anyone who has ever lived in a “bicycle friendly” town like Davis or San Luis Obispo knows that traffic laws are strictly enforced for bicyclists. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t see a Petaluma bicyclist run a stop sign, endangering themselves and others. This is the first step this community has taken in years to promote bicycle safety.”

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“This is police work to the highest bidder! IF there was no financial incentive to enforce such laws would the cops be as enthusiastic to carry out the task, I think not. It’s sad and it’s a discrace to the department and the city that the nature of police work has become revenue seeking from the citizens it pledge to protect and SERVE. Ok, I’m stepping off my soap box now, thanks for letting me vent/rant.”

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“Waste of money. Gov Brown should put a stop to all these funds and put it to good use.”

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“Yes! Need to get those drunk drivers off the road! Also, all the local marijuana smokers too! Too many on the road as well.”

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“Yes. And please start ticketing the folks on bikes who create hazardous conditions by running red lights and riding with traffic without signalling properly. We are not mind readers and don’t know what you are necessarily doing. Running a light or stop sign is just stupid–and arrogant. If they were driving a car they would not do it…or maybe they would. I see plenty of younger drivers just breezing through stop signs and lights. Just takes another person killed to make the change, I guess. Cyclist just killed a pedestrian in San Francisco.”

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“Your surveys don’t really ask the correct question(s) most of the time. In this case, the question should have been some thing like this: Do you think this is the best use of your tax dollars? If not, then how could they be better spent. While I know that we have a high rate of pedestrian/bicycle collisions with vehicles in this town, I also know that I would like more enforcement in other areas. Specifically, this town has a prostitution problem and it has a problem with the distribution of hard drugs such as meth and heroin. I would like to see more enforcement in this area. However, according to our Chief of Police, Dan Fish, neither one of these problems exist. It is time for new blood in our police department!”