Doral Police launches new Aggressive Driving Unit
By: Diana Bello Aristizábal
The Aggressive Driving Unit (ADU) is the Doral Police Department’s latest effort to address the traffic issues that concern residents.
This new unit was introduced to the public on Feb. 3 at a press conference at the department headquarters that was joined by council members Rafael Pineyro, Nicole Reinoso and Maureen Porras, as well as City of Doral Mayor, Christi Fraga, Chief of Police, Edwin Lopez, and several police officers.
“We’ve heard our residents’ concerns about dangerous driving in the city and we know that reckless driving behaviors behind the wheel puts lives at risk,” said Mayor Fraga on the main reasoning for launching this initiative in a city with a population that it has more than doubled over the last 10 years.
Chief of Police Edwin Lopez agrees. In an interview with Doral Family Journal, he said population growth added to the fact that the city currently has a wide range of appealing parks, schools and businesses for residents and visitors led to an increase in traffic.
“So, because of that, we have to continue being creative in how to better support and address traffic issues in our community,” the Chief of Police said. The Aggressive Driving Unit aims to not only align with this, but to highlight the zero-tolerance policy for disorderly conduct that the city has always defended.
“This unit will play a critical role on making our roads safer and increasing quality of life by effectively addressing aggressive driving and creating a more peaceful and enjoyable driving experience for everyone who visits and lives within our city,” the mayor said.
Fighting aggressive driving and simultaneously educating the community
The Aggressive Driving Unit, officially on the roads starting the week of Feb. 10, is comprised of a specialized law enforcement team dedicated to identifying, apprehending, and prosecuting drivers who exhibit aggressive and reckless behavior on the roads.
Speeding, unsafe lane changes, running red lights, tailgating, and road rage incidents are some of the traffic violations the team of officers in charge of the unit seeks to target. Additionally, they will also focus on enforcing regulations for commercial vehicles, ensuring compliance with disabled parking restrictions, and maintaining safety in school zones.
“Now, these are still police officers trained with an expertise to combat any issue that occurs in our community, whether it be an active shooter or any other incident. However, their day-to-day routine will be handling traffic-related matters that are unique to Doral,” Edwin Lopez explains.
For this purpose, the police are unveiling two dual-sport motorcycles with both on-road and off-road capabilities that will be able to address certain issues present in the community or even those that could potentially arise in the future.
“For example, we have a fitness-based community that uses our parks and our pathways that have been created along green spaces. These dual-sport motorcycles will have the capabilities to provide police presence in areas where police officers cannot get to on a daily basis, so that gives us a safety net for our children, for our families, for our friends and anyone else who comes to enjoy this city.” Lopez says.
The ADU will employ a multifaceted approach, including high-visibility patrols in areas with a high incidence of aggressive driving and traffic violations, close work with other law enforcement agencies and community stakeholders to address traffic safety concerns, and the implementation of public awareness campaigns to educate the public about the dangers of aggressive driving.
This unit is expected to be made up of at least seven police department officers; two of them were deployed to the roads about six weeks ago when a soft rolling out of the unit was carried out as a test that was considered successful.
Some of the activities that officers would do in any given week are working in school zones on Monday; issuing tickets at malls for handicapped parking violations on Tuesday; deploying an educational campaign with homeowner associations on Wednesday; visiting business owners on Thursday and doing a little bit of everything on Friday.
To measure the success of the unit, the department will continue to monitor statistics of how many folks enter in and out of the city through license plate readers and intersection cameras, as well as keeping a great relationship with homeowner associations and businesses who constantly provide feedback to the police that helps them see exactly where the areas that they should target are.