Prevent a tragedy

REGION- Once again, officers throughout the area will be out in force during Memorial Day weekend to insure the safety of those traveling through the River Valley area. Rumford Police Chief Stacy Carter noted, “We are focusing on educating citizens to be aware of the laws that help them to be safer in their vehicles. Not one of us in law enforcement wants to knock on anyone's door to notify them of a tragedy. I would rather see someone pay a fine than have to inform their loved ones of an deadly accident.” Patrols will be out like they normally are checking for seat belts, drinking and driving and especially underage drinking. “It's that time of year,” noted Carter. “Graduations, the end of the school year and warmer weather. We have a no-tolerance attitude when it comes to underage drinking.” As for the Oxford County Sheriff's Department, Chief Deputy Dane Tripp noted, “We will be coordinating a seat belt detail along with our regular patrol, but we'll also be scattered throughout the county for all of the parades.” Tripp noted that as each year passes, “the amount of tickets we hand out increase, due to the additional education our officers getting, which in turn, is making them more strict in their stops and more drivers are getting ticketed for violations. Coinciding with the holiday weekend, is the Bureau of Highway Safety Campaign of Click it or Ticket. Anyone found not to be wearing their seatbelt will be ticketed and fined anywhere from $50 to $250, dependent on whether you have had prior offenses.

Patrol Photo:

Rumford Police Capt. Dan Garbarini and Det. Sgt. James Bernard performed a spot check recently to make sure Mountain Valley High School students were wearing their seatbelts and not using their cell phones. (Photo courtesy of the Rumford Police Department)