Akron police steps up neighborhood speed enforcement

Row of houses in the suburb of Lakewood in the Cleveland Metropolitan Area

By Bob Jones

AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Police Department is stepping up enforcement to address the number one complaint made by neighborhood residents — drivers going way too fast.

This week officers began doing radar enforcement on various residential streets, something the department had moved away from in recent years due to manpower issues.

However, the department has hired 45 officers within the last two years and now there’s a renewed, dedicated focus on putting officers in neighborhoods to write tickets to speeders.

“Our chief has currently designated 12 hours a day, started yesterday, eight hours during the daytime and four hours in the evening, is being dedicated Monday through Friday,” said Lt. Rick Edwards.

The officers will bounce around to different streets to monitor speeds based largely on complaints received by city council members from residents.

Jim Vaughan lives on Glenmount Avenue in the Firestone Park neighborhood. Police called Glenmount  “one of the most complained about streets” when it comes to speeders.

The speed limit is 25 miles-per-hour, but Vaughan, a retired firefighter, said drivers frequently exceed that.

‘You might see two or three go 25. The rest of them are flying,” Vaughan said. “Occasionally, there’s one going 50, 60 miles an hour down this street. It’s crazy.”

Vaughan said he has complained to the mayor, council members and, at one time, he even put out a fake cardboard speed camera in his front yard, which fooled drivers and caused them to slow down.

Veronica Conrad, who also lives in the neighborhood, was happy to hear about the increased radar detail, but still believes a stop sign is needed on the street.

“This is a dog-walking neighborhood. People are always out walking their dogs. When I walk down Glenmont, you almost feel like the forces of the vehicles are just gonna come up on the sidewalk and hit you. That’s how fast they go,” Conrad said.

The department has also applied for a $200,000 federal grant that would pay for another 1,000 hours of speed enforcement in neighborhoods.