Responding to rampant reports of reckless driving and illegal parking, the Richmond Police Department is set to strengthen its traffic enforcement efforts with the addition of a second motor officer early next month.
Understaffed in the wake of the defund police movement, the RPD currently has just one motor officer patrolling the city for traffic-related violations during regular business hours, Lt. Donovan Decious reported at a recent Richmond Neighborhood Coordinating Council meeting.
The expanded motor unit is expected to tackle a range of pressing issues, from vehicles that ignore street-sweeping rules, double-parking, speeding and also drag-racing and sideshow events.
“Although it’s not the six or eight that we need—or what we want—two is better than one, and one is better than none,” Decious said. “We’re slowly getting that staffing back up.”
Richmond City Council, oft-criticized for defunding the RPD, is responding to traffic complaints in part by installing traffic calming measures at 18 locations.
