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(Riverhead, New York) Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco today announced a new tool in their arsenal to patrol the LIE and Sunrise Highway for aggressive drivers. The Bergen County, New Jersey Prosecutors Office collaborated with the Sheriff’s Office on Friday, June 18th, patrolling the Long Island Expressway from the air, targeting reckless drivers speeding and weaving through traffic, and dispatching officers on the ground in real-time to catch offenders.
Eighty-eight tickets for moving violations were issued during this morning’s sweep, which took place during the morning rush hours from 7:30 AM until 10:30 AM.
The aircraft used in the patrol operation was acquired by BergenCounty through the United States Department of Justice’s Law Enforcement Aviation Technology Program. SuffolkCounty had use of the aircraft on Friday morning and plans to conduct future collaborative operations, at no cost to the County.
“At one time or another, we have all been “cut-off” by aggressive drivers and wondered when they would be caught and ticketed. This aerial enforcement technology will enable us to spot these drivers quickly and get them off our roads,” stated DeMarco.
Since the Sheriff’s Office has expanded its patrols on the LIE and Sunrise Highway it has continually sought to apply high-tech, cost effective solutions to reducing aggressive driving which is a primary cause of everyday driver frustration and vehicular accidents. The two offices plan to collaborate on a joint air patrol mission over Sunrise Highway in the near future.
Depicted here from left to right are Detective James Bordino from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and Suffolk County Sheriff
Vincent F. DeMarco at CalabroAirport in Shirley, New York on June 18, 2010. Behind them is the light sport aircraft used in today’s air patrol
mission.
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