Palmer to Post Three Digital Speed Signs in Township

The will soon be monitoring speeds after it places two or three digital speed display signs around the township in the near future, Police Chief Larry Palmer said.

At his last supervisors meeting in late March, Police Chief Bruce Fretz, now retired, said that the police department had spent $17,000 to replace a broken speed display sign.

The money came from the township's forfeiture funds – money taken mostly from drug convictions.

said the department has two or three speed signs that an officer is in the process of getting functional. The signs will be placed in key locations on some streets for a few weeks to help raise awareness.

"They are extremely important," Palmer said. "People don't realize how fast they're going."

After the initial postings, he said that an enforcement campaign would then begin at those locations.

In other police news, Fretz made it clear that Palmer Township would strictly enforce the texting law.

"While it's a little more difficult to enforce, all we have to do is see someone pressing those buttons. That's good enough for us. Besides being illegal, it's also dangerous."

Palmer said he was unaware of any citations being given by the department for the texting law.

One of Palmer's top priorities is getting the police department accreditation.

Palmer, who was able to get  accreditation from the state when he was chief of the city's force, has set a goal of July 2014.

Accreditation standards mean that a police department meets specific criteria set forth by national and state commissions. The accreditation process establishes goals, objectives, policies, practices and a mission statement that are continually reviewed to ensure that a police department is up to date on procedural changes and changes in the law.