Strong River Bend Adds Traffic Cameras

by B. S. Ryter

Strong River Bend (SRB) announced at their recent board meeting that they will be installing traffic cameras to assist the SRB Police Department (SRBPD) with dealing with traffic violations. SRB has a busy 4-way stop with hundreds of drivers passing through daily. SRBPD does a good job with the few resources that they have, but these cameras will be a big asset for the department.

Police chief, Andy Fife, is excited about the cameras. He said, “We do the best we can keeping SRB a safe place, but it’s not easy. We do a lot of roadblocks to catch DUIs and drivers with no license or expired licenses, and we give a lot of tickets for tag lights, headlights, and taillights being out. But, we don’t write many tickets for drivers that fail to stop at the 4-way; that will change with the new traffic cameras. You better make sure you stop at the SRB 4-way!”

The new traffic cameras will be fixated on the 4-way stop exclusively. SRB is not disclosing the location of the cameras for fear that residents will try to destroy the cameras. SRB felt like they were missing out on a lot of revenue by not writing more tickets at the 4-way, and the cameras should help alleviate that issue and increase revenue to the town. SRB Mayor Gus Easyspirit said, “We think these cameras will make SRB a safer place, and they will be a major revenue generator for our town. We’re excited the impact they’re going to have on our annual budget.”

The high resolution cameras will read the tags of drivers that come through the 4-way. Drivers that fail to stop will be mailed a ticket based on their tag info. SRBPD simply has to sit back and collect that revenue. Chief Fife said, “Tickets for failure to stop at the 4-way will be $75. These cameras will free up time for our officers to patrol and make our town safer.”

Many SRB and Valley residents are not happy about the cameras. One resident said, “This is crazy! How much did the cameras cost? They didn’t disclose that. I guess I’ll avoid the 4-way from now on, but if I do come through there, I’ll probably flip the cameras off.” Another resident said, “What are the police officers going to do now? Sit in their patrol cars and play Words with Friends, CandyCrush, or scroll through Facebook all the time? This is outrageous, and it violates my right to a rolling stop! I’m going to find these cameras and either shoot them or cut the cords. Bet!”

The cameras will be installed in the next few weeks. Most SRB residents aren’t happy about it, but they do realize it should help the town’s budget. We’ll check back a year from now to see how they impacted SRB’s budget.