Chief Halts Special Pedestrian Ticketing

Good! As a reminder, police officers can issue WARNINGS, instead of tickets. Ai yai yai.

Forgive the fines and try to pretend this wasn't a total PR disaster.

We have people driving in the rain/snow with no lights on., Going thru stop signs ,and lights, Turning w/o using signals , driving w/o license, insurances, or registration....speeding in the city .. driving like the indy 500

and. wait The police are ticketing people in cross walks? Cant make this stuff up Whom ever came up with this idea, deserves to be Chief.

Please issue a full refund to every pedestrian and cyclist who was ticketed, plus $500 to compensate for potential damages that this caused.

@anonymous,

I agree with you, but an additional 500.00? That's stretching it. The city gave us a inch; We can't ask for a foot lol. Baby steps. baby steps.

Brought to you by the same folks that brought you 'you know what New Haveners will love? Police confiscating valuables from their unlocked cars!'

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/east_rock_car_break_ins/

Taking time to think things through really can be useful sometimes.

Well, this is welcome news but the fact remains that this never should have started in the first place.

Are those tickets going to be voided without any further effort on the part of those pedestrians?

Nice try, NHPD friends, but the damage is done here. You've damningly illustrated for a huge chunk of the city, yet again, how thoughtlessly, often needlessly cruelly, & most importantly how very ARBITRARILY your team approaches problems in New Haven. You showed no regard for the difficulties you imposed on innocent individuals until it was clear doing so would pose difficulties for you. Great job fostering goodwill. This one is going to stay vivid in the public memory for some time.

Also, let's not be fooled by this policy change. That the police chose this "strategy" in the first place is a tacit acknowledgment that they have completely lost control of the lawless driver behavior in New Haven and are targeting pedestrians instead, in the hope that they be intimidated into complete compliance.

My guess is the thank you on this should go to Mayor-Elect Elicker.

Can't wait to see more government responsiveness!

Also, I'd like to know how many of the officers ticketing people for crossing diagonally on an all-walk signal, — actually live in New Haven?

So often it feels as if the cops think we're all criminals, and actually hate us. I mean how often will a New Haven officer actually smile or wave back? (Yale PD is a completely different story.)

The decision to do this went over like a lead balloon!
This decision was not well thought out and not well carried out.
It surely was a public relations disaster.
The one great lesson from this story is the importance of the power of the press to inform the public, and the power of the public to pressure their government to respond to their grievances.
The people spoke and the police department backed off in less than 24 hours.
There was a story in The Andy Griffith Show in which the Mayberry deputy sheriff, Barney Fife, decided to strictly enforce all the laws no matter how minor, trivial or victim-free the offense might have been. The jail was filled with ordinary town folk. Sheriff Andy Taylor gave Fife a lesson on compassion, tolerance, and treating people as human beings, "the human factor."
New Haven residents want to be treated with compassion, tolerance and like human beings.
They don't want to cross city streets in fear of being watched by police and ticketed and fined for violating "laws'' which were never enforced in their lifetime.
Our apologies should be extended to the police officers who probably felt the whole plan was foolish and inconsiderate, and pprobably felt embarrassed doing it, but were forced to follow orders from the Chief and do as they were instructed.
If in the future the Police Department has any plans to implement similar ideas, run it by the public, consult with the aldermen FIRST!
Otherwise, on this account, as Shakespeare would say, "All's well that ends well!"

It's good to stop the ticketing - but the enforcement and warnings need to be handed out. I'm not buying that people didn't know they're supposed to walk in the crosswalks. Are there diagonal markings on the street? No. Come on people. The pedestrian barriers? There are far fewer than people are saying and frankly, it sure seems some are using this action in the usual attack on drivers.

And for someone who claims the ability to take up an entire lane - that's silly. You don't need it, cars do. Ride at the side of the road or in the bike lane. I've seen you guys take up the lane but when it comes to a red light, you ride through to cut in front of traffic again, claiming the lane. I passed a guy who did that three times on Chapel Street.

Whose idea was this originally though?! "As yes... Diagonal crossing, which endangers no one and inconveniences no one... Let's crack down on that."

They probably did it because it is ingrained in all city activities that if the State taxpayers are willing to pay for something, take the money and run - whether you need it or not. It's free money (so they think) so lets spend it. Unfortunately the real fault lies at the State level. Someone up there thought it would be a good idea to spend taxpayer money enforcing pedestrian safety rules so they offered the cash. NH just couldn't refuse the offer.

One last comment: the ticketing /whatever was for walking diagonally with all 4 cross walk signals stopping all vehicular traffic, NOT for darting into traffic anyplace you feel like. Speaking as a pedestrian who ALWAYS crosses with a cross walk light, this is the safest, most efficient way to cross 2 streets & get out of the way of cars. Due to the at most 15-20 seconds crossing time given by most walk lights, it is very difficult, of not impossible, to cross 1 street and then the 2nd one in one walk cycle.

In terms of jaywalking, I think pedestrians who cross the street in the middle of a busy street like Whalley Avenue are engaging in riskier behavior than those who cross on the diagonal at a crosswalk. Pedestrian light cycles need to be examined. Also, what do Sabbath observant Jews do who cannot push the walk button so in an intersection with no automatic walk cycle do? Finally, it would be nice if there was stepped up enforcement for reckless cyclists and dirtbikers.

Cheers to William Kurtz and Hionamt--- Authorities chase the low-hanging easy fruit, rather than targeting all the motor vehicle violations that on display for all to see. Although this taxpayer momentarily started counted the dough that my broke NH needs; I agree that this would not be where I would be putting my police resources.
Our roads are MUCH MORE dangerous to many more people than a crosswalk.

I will guarantee while a cop is writing this ridiculous anti NH ticket right behind him is an exchange of this opioid epidemic in progress!! And here we have yet one more reason to stay away from downtown. The individuals who came up with this pilot prgm have way too much money to throw around! I want my taxes back!!!

There were only 9 fines handed out, the other 120 or so were warnings. Not as bad as first reported but there should have been a educational period. Either way it's an issue that needs to be addressed regardless of how arbitrary some may feel. Are there other more pressing issues, of course, but that doesn't mean the other issues can't be addressed.

They got a grant to deal with that specific issue so the OT is covered by the grant and not the city.

This was the stupidest police enforcement action. The problem causing pedestrian accidents isn't crossing diagonally at a 4 way walk light intersection. It's crossing mid-block because there aren't enough crosswalks and walk signs on Route 80 and on Ella Grasso Blvd, and other very heavily auto traffic streets. It's drivers turning right on red at crosswalks with pedestrians in the crosswalk. And turning at stop signs while ignoring pedestrians in the crosswalk. And driving to fast in the city on pedestrian streets. And playing with their cell phones while driving. And rushing to beat the red light. And bicyclists/scooters ignoring the rules of the road for cyclists. And drag racing cars, motor bikes, atv vehicles ignoring the rules of the road. Instead of ticketing pedestrians at the holidays, AFTER the Yalies have left, (who are legitimately the worst pedestrian traffic offenders,) at an exorbitant cost for poor people, NHPD should be ticketing motor/motorized vehicle violations instead. And New Haven needs more designated bike/scooter lanes and a cyclist education program, and serious traffic calming measures and more pedestrian friendly crossing lights and raised crosswalks to slow motorists down and protect pedestrians, not punish them.

It is unreasonable to ask pedestrians to cross the street at a right angle when that might necessitate waiting for two successive walk signals to be activated. You don't even need to know basic geometry to figure out that walking diagonally across an intersection with 4 way walk signals is much shorter than walking at a right angle. Signals should be timed so that a person walking at an average speed can walk diagonally and reach his or her destination. Anyone who does not think they can reach the other side in time by walking diagonally should walk the right angle along crosswalks. Today I had to walk across Ella T. Grasso Boulevard at the corner of Rte. 1 and there was no pedestrian signal, just a button to activate a green light and walk across a busy intersection with cars turning in my path. Let's fix that signal and others that are not functioning, and add more pedestrian signals. As far as jaywalking in the middle of the street, I must admit that I do it, and I should cut it,out but wouldn't it be nice if we had more crosswalks in the middle of long blocks, like the one linking City Hall and adjacent buildings to the New Haven Green.