CHP Initiates 'Special Enforcement Team' Effort in San Mateo County

[Editor's Note: The following information was received by Patch from the Redwood City Area of the California Highway Patrol, and is reprinted here.]

With the New Year upon us, so come new changes to the way the men and women of the California Highway Patrol (CHP), Redwood City Area strive to keep traffic safety at the forefront of their efforts.  With nearly 550 square miles of service area, covering from the city of San Bruno, south to the city of Sunnyvale, west to State Route 1 and east to the city of Hayward, the CHP is responsible for more than 300 miles of freeways and over 600 miles of unincorporated roadways. 

Beginning this month the CHP will deploy a special enforcement team to address the numerous traffic complaints the Redwood City CHP Area office receives from members of the many unincorporated communities they serve.  

Rather than pulling a CHP unit from a freeway beat, the Area will deploy a team of four motorcycle officers and a motorcycle sergeant to respond to address concerns ranging from speeding vehicles to providing a more significant traffic safety presence at local schools and in neighborhoods.  The team will be led by CHP Sergeant Mike Hagen.       

According to the Redwood City CHP commander, Captain Mike Maskarich, “It’s not about writing more citations, but rather having a strong presence in the communities we serve to ensure people are driving safer.”  

While traffic citations are certainly a part of the CHP’s efforts to modify one’s errant and unsafe driving behaviors, “it’s more about ensuring the highest possible level of traffic safety” according to Captain Maskarich. 

Additionally, “It is extremely important to be accessible to members of the communities we serve and to be prompt in our response to their safety concerns, whether those involve motor vehicles, bicycles, or pedestrian traffic” says Maskarich.

In addition to the individual efforts of the CHP, members of the Special Enforcement Team are also partners in the San Mateo County, Saturation Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP), which combines law enforcement personnel from numerous agencies to focus on specific traffic enforcement efforts throughout the county.