Yuma, Arizona - The Yuma Police Department has received numerous complaints from the Yuma community concerning red-light violations and other traffic infractions at the intersection of 16th Street and 4th Avenue. Because of these complaints our Traffic Unit organized a detail to enforce intersection related traffic violations to include red light violations.
This morning a YPD Sergeant stood at the intersection of 16th Street and 4th Avenue in plain cloths, holding a sign and a camera to capture video of the violations. When a traffic violation occurred a nearby fully marked Motor Officer was notified via radio and performed the traffic stop. The enforcement detail then moved to 24th Street and 4th Avenue.
During this detail 53 traffic stops were conducted with 47 citations issued for various traffic and other violations. The violations were Red light – 15, Turning – 16, Cell phone use – 10, Speed – 7, Seat belt – 3, Child restraint – 1, Registration – 3, Insurance – 8, Suspended license – 3, No license – 1, Other – 5. There were also 3 misdemeanor arrests and 4 vehicles impounded as a result of the detail.
While this detail was being conducted many citizens took to social media to notify others of our officer posing in an undercover capacity. The majority of the comments were positive in nature and praising us for taking enforcement action and utilizing this creative method. There were some negative posts concerning our detail with one person posting to “kill” the officer. Another citizen went to the area with his own sign telling everyone the person on the corner is a police officer. We did not discourage this citizen because in the end he assisted us with getting the word out and it had the desired impact of slowing violators down, getting them to obey traffic signals, and reminding them to put down their cell phones while driving.
The Yuma Police Department would like to remind our community that many of the accidents we investigate could have been avoided by adhering to posted speed limits, stopping for all red lights and stop signs and remaining attentive while driving.