Traffic officers have a big responsibility

I have recently become very annoyed with some of the sheriff’s deputies of Culpeper County. In the economy we have, and with people desperate for jobs, why would we be paying officers to sit or stand around and watch motorists and pedestrians struggle to cross intersections? The area I am speaking of is the intersection of North Ridge (Culpeper Middle School entrance and exit) and Ira Hoffman Lane.

This is a school crossing. Yet out of the five or six officers who are evidently scheduled to work this area morning and afternoon, only two that I have seen — one is a motorcycle officer and the other a new officer — actually get out of their vehicles to enter the roadway and direct traffic on a regular basis.

There is no stop light at this intersection, which has traffic flowing four ways. And most importantly, it has children going to or leaving school and other pedestrians trying to cross at the heaviest times of traffic flow (7:30 to 8 a.m. and 3:15 to 3:45 p.m.)

Yet not including the two officers mentioned previously, the other officers sit in their patrol cars, looking for violations for which to cite drivers or stand and lean up against the patrol cars and merely observe the fun.

With the past fatalities that this community has had in high-flow intersections, I find this appalling.

An officer’s job is to protect and serve, and we have an abundance of officers in this community who fit this bill and exceed it when performing their duties. However, others need to start doing their jobs or be replaced with hard-working individuals who will be willing to do so and earn their pay.

Michelle Green
Boston, Va.