More Than 200 Speeders Caught In Boynton Beach School Zones So Far

Boynton Beach Police Dept.

The Boynton Beach Police Department is reminding drivers to watch their speed near schools.

"We've been unpleasantly surprised with the rate of speed that people are going through in these school zones."

Officers have been heavily patrolling the schools since kids returned to class last week and Chief Michael Gregory says they had written 209 citations for folks speeding in school zones through yesterday.

"The highest speed was about 57 miles per hour in a 20 mile per hour school zone. So, it's really shocking and I'm glad we're doing this again this year and I hope that people will get the message."

Chief Gregory says 167 of those tickets were handed out during the first week, so the numbers came down considerably in this second week of school. The stepped up enforcement will continue.

He doesn't believe that the problem that first week was drivers being unaware of the start of the school year, because he points out that drivers would see the flashing lights and children walking.

Or, as he puts it one more thing drivers should notice:

"Those big giant yellow things on wheels...the school buses...it's a tell-tale sign."

The chief also reminds parents to teach their kids never to get into a car with a stranger, after a 12-year old boy was kidnapped this week.

The suspect was arrested and faces charges.

We also talk about school security.

Chief Gregory says last year some of his officers were working as resource officers on some school campuses, but not this year. He says the school district has enough of their own officers to cover the public schools in Boynton Beach.

Community engagement is something the Boynton Beach Police Department is focused on.

The chief says they did some new things over the summer.

"We're really focusing a lot on kids. We just had a very successful teen summit. We brought some kids from some needy communities together for a free mini-camp towards the end of the summer. We just wrapped that up I think we graduated some 15, 20 kids through that program. It's our first year doing it."

He says the Teen Police Academy also ran over the summer and touts the department's year-round Police Explorer program.

"We're just trying to double down on our engagement with young people and youth from every different perspective."

Gregory says he also hopes to work out a partnership with Boynton Beach High School to create a criminal justice program.

More details on the Police Explorers program:

The Police Explorer program is open to young men and women ages 14 (and completed the 8th grade) and not yet 21 years old with an interest in learning more about careers in the field of law enforcement. This program provides educational training curricula for young adults on the purposes, mission, and objectives of law enforcement. It also offers career orientation experiences, leadership opportunities, and community service activities. The primary goals of the program are to help young adults choose a career path within law enforcement, and to challenge them to become responsible citizens of their communities and the nation.

Employee of the Month

Finally, the chief wants residents to know about the department's Employee of the Month.

Throughout the month of July, Officer Cynthia Rivera continuously displayed her knowledge and hard work. On July 8th, she was dispatched to a delayed robbery call, but instead of just taking a report, Officer Rivera proceeded to begin her own investigation.

She canvassed the area in order to locate surveillance cameras, prior calls for service and known males that matched the suspect's description.

That helped lead detectives to secure a search warrant at a home, which resulted in the arrest of a suspect in the case.

The PD also points out that Officer Rivera helped in the arrest of a suspect involved in a homicide the very next day.

Photo: Boynton Beach Police Dept.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content