Urbana's program to offer vouchers for traffic stops having to do with light replacement is apparently going well about a third of the way through the pilot program's 150 total vouchers. WCIA had a web article with a video segment yesterday:
Police giving vouchers for car light fixes instead of ticketsFull article here. This is following up on an April Cheat Sheet post that explained the program in more detail and had some initial concerns and reaction.
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The police department is handing out vouchers for any lights on your car which have gone out and need to be replaced.
Police started with 150 vouchers. They have about 100 left. Officers just started handing them out at the beginning of this month and say, so far, it seems to be a big success.
"We want officers to go out and make contact with people. We don't always have the image of helping, even though that's our main job..."
"This is a way we can prevent people from unnecessarily being penalized for being poor."
Police say it's hitting two birds with one stone: safety and community caretaking.
"A light is something we can help you with, so you don't get pulled over in the future. So, when you turn your blinker light on, or turn your headlights on, both of them are functioning correctly. It's definitely working and being successful."
This is all coming from the Human Relations Caretaking Budget. James says after the program is over, they'll study how it impacted the community. That will determine what they do next year.
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