With the new school year comes one of your police department’s most important roles: protecting your children. This is a privilege that we take very seriously. Today, we are happy to introduce our OPERATION BEE SAFE program (formerly Operation Safe Stop), a community program designed to make your child’s bus stops safer. Through the program, residents are encouraged to nominate their child’s bus stop by contacting Lieutenant Peter Nickischer ([email protected] or 484-661-5911). Once nominated, your child’s bus stop will be added to a list of rotating stops that are monitored by patrol officers in marked (police car with exterior emergency lights and police decals) and unmarked police cars, as well as officers on foot. Officers committed to this program are instructed to:
1) Ensure the safety of children and parents at every stop.
2) Monitor the stop for school bus flashing red light violators.
3) Cite and prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law.
Starting in January 2013, the UMTPD took over the popular program created by the Berks-Lehigh Regional Police and expanded the program to include more stops and involve more officers. The result was an enhanced and largely successful proactive program that received accolades from Upper Macungie residents and even safe stop requests from residents in neighboring jurisdictions. With OPERATION BEE SAFE, we hope to have an even greater presence at your child's bus stop, creating a safer environment for children and motorists alike.
This school year, please help make this program continue to flourish and grow. Simply follow the steps below to nominate your child’s bus stop.
1) Email Lt. Peter Nickischer at [email protected], or call him at 484-661-5911. You can also nominate stops on the department’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/UMTPD.
2) Include your child’s bus stop location (specific addresses with street names, house numbers, etc).
3) Include specific times for your child’s stop. Time ranges are acceptable, but may affect the frequency of safe stop checks. Specific times are preferred. Failure to provide this information will result in your child’s stop being excluded.
At this time, this service is only available to those who live within the jurisdiction of the Upper Macungie Township Police Department. We typically receive numerous requests in other jurisdictions, but do not have the authority to enforce traffic laws if the stop is not in Upper Macungie Township.
Thank you to all of those who have shared positive feedback about this program in the past. We welcome any and all feedback and are looking forward to another successful and most importantly, SAFE school year.
Respectfully,
Lieutenant Peter Nickischer
UMTPD
