Northern Regional Police Department recognized by AAA
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One of the nicest things about living in northern Allegheny County is the ability to easily travel between serene neighborhoods scattered along winding, tree-lined roads to vibrant shopping districts that connect to major interstate roadways.
But getting to and from just about anywhere in Pine, Richland, Marshall and Bradford Woods means driving.
And the job of ensuring the safety of motorists traveling along the roughly 50 square miles of roads in those communities falls on the Northern Regional Police Department, which recently was recognized for its efforts.
The police department has received a Platinum Award from AAA East Central in recognition of “their outstanding efforts to increase road safety for all motorists.”
“The people in the communities we patrol are heavily dependent on vehicles,” said Chief John Sicilia. “And the No. 1 complaint we get from residents is about vehicles speeding through our neighborhoods. The safety of our residents is of the utmost importance, so one of our goals is to focus on aggressive and dangerous drivers.”
The chief said the frequent requests from residents to add more stop signs to slow speeders down is not a simple, easily solution.
He noted that stop signs must be approved by PennDOT, which first conducts an extensive review looking for data to support the need for the sign, such as the frequency of wrecks at an intersection or obstructed sight lines that could result in crashes.
“We can’t just put up stop signs to try to get people to slow down,” he said. “And we’re not looking to write tickets for people who speed. Out main goal is to just get them to slow down.”
Sicilia noted that a municipality’s share of a summons issued for $200 typically amounts to no more than about $15 to $20.
“Writing tickets is certainly not a revenue generator,” he said. “And if the officer has to go to court on their day off, it will cost us more in overtime than we get back from the state.”
The chief said the rural roads with light traffic that traverse northern Allegheny County can easily give motorists a false sense of security that prompts them to drive above the speed limit.
“We’re driving cars that can go much faster than they used to,” he said. “But some of the roads they’re being driven on were built 50 to 70 years ago, so they really weren’t built to handle higher speeds.”
AAA awarded platinum awards to 59 police agencies in Western Pennsylvania departments and Gold, Silver and Bronze awards to 48 other police departments.
The other departments in the North Hills that got Platinum Awards were McCandless, Cranberry, Shaler, West View and Etna. Hampton received a Gold Award.
“We are honored to recognize these local departments for their efforts in the Community Traffic Safety Program,” said Terri Rae Anthony, safety advisor for AAA East Central. “Each organization has gone above and beyond their call of duty to make their community a safer place for motorists and residents.”
Sicilia said the AAA awards are an good benchmark because the ratings are made by evaluating each police agency’s efforts and the overall involvement in traffic safety solutions that have a measured success.
“One of the areas of focus our agency works to improve and maintain are PennDOT’s Aggressive Driving Program to decrease moving violations on state highways,” Sicilia said.
Northern Regional also is heavily involved in the Drive Without Distractions program, which promotes awareness about the dangers of texting while driving or engaging in other activities that take a driver’s eyes off the road.
The 40-member police department also members of the North Hills DUI Task Force, which conducts stationary and roving patrols to try to get impaired drivers off the road before they are involved in crashes.
The department also patrols the Pine-Richland School District’s campuses and conduct’s safety programs such as the Buckle Up PA initiative.