City police to saturate school zones

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Grants police are serious about patrolling and enforcing the 15 mph speed limits in school zones.

They are so serious that on Friday, Sgt. Corey Allen, who is on the night shift, was working the school zone at Grants High School on his day off.

School started Friday with a half day for students to get oriented to classrooms and teachers, get books and learn classroom rules.

Each school in the district in Grants has a flashing light and a speed limit sign of 15 mph warning the driver there is a school zone.

Safety of students going to and from school is of paramount importance to the department.

The school zone speed limit ends when a sign, posted at the other end of the zone, tells drivers it has ended, Allen said.

"This week we will be giving warnings," Allen said.

"Beginning next week there will be zero tolerance for speeding and we will issue citations," he said.

Police will be using radar and other means of clocking and determining the speed of vehicles as they pass through the school zones, Allen said.

"When the light is flashing, the school zone speed limit is in force," he said.

School zone times are morning at the beginning of school, lunchtime and at the end of the school day.

School zone times are from 7:30 a.m. to about 8:15 a.m., some start sooner than others, Allen said.

In the afternoon, times are from when school lets out to about 3:30-3:45 p.m., he said.

Some of the officers involved in enforcing the school zone speeding limits are participating in the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program.

STEP is a program where police officers voluntarily patrol and look for selected types of driving violations, such as speeding in a school zone, on their off days and are paid by the state's Traffic Division of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: tiffin.independent@yahoo.com.