BERLIN – In the wake of speeding concerns shared on social media, Police Chief Arnold Downing once again encouraged citizens to call his department to report problems.
Following recent discussion on Facebook regarding speeding in downtown Berlin, Downing advised elected officials and residents to call the Berlin Police Department to report issues.
“If you have an issue that’s related to law enforcement, please call,” Downing said. “We definitely can’t be all places at all times.”
During his regular report to the town’s elected officials Monday, Downing advised them of the growing amount of traffic in town with the onset of summer and busy local contractors.
“The town’s growing and with that has increased traffic and work traffic,” he said. “On every major thoroughfare we’re actually seeing growth … if you looked at Washington Street alone, down there we talked about six contractors at one time on a given day.”
He said that in the last couple weeks there had been 17 accidents in town.
“Again we ask everyone to take their time getting to where they need to get to and be courteous to each other,” he said.
Councilman Jack Orris brought up the speeding complaints he’d seen on Facebook. Downing was quick to remind elected officials, and residents, that if they saw something concerning they needed to let the police know, whether they considered it “tattle tailing” or not.
“We feel that’s a little bit on the ridiculous side,” he said. “If your electric’s not working you’re not going to call the electric department? If your water stopped running you’re not going to go ahead and call the water department?”
He said if his officers were advised of problem areas or vehicles that habitually went too fast, they could knock on doors and talk to the offenders.
“That actually works,” he said. “To go on social media and think that’s the way you’re going to go ahead and solve an issue, well it’s not.”
He added that if his officers knew problem spots, they could make sure they were there to deter issues.
“It’s going to be the best use of our resources,” he said.
Another traffic event noted at Monday’s meeting included the planned June 21 closure of a portion of Flower Street. A section of Flower Street in the area of Henry Park will be closed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, June 21 for road work.
