The Prairie Village Police Department’s targeted traffic law enforcement operation in the areas around Shawnee Mission East netted 50 citations – but most of the violators weren’t in the demographic you might expect.
Between Feb. 24 and March 7, the department’s traffic unit spent a total of 22 hours focused on the streets surrounding the high school just before and after each school day. Sgt. James Carney, who heads the department’s traffic unit, said officers issued the following citations.
- 35 for adult seat belt violations
- 4 for 14-17 year old persons violating the seat belt law
- 3 for child restraint violations (issued to drivers with children up to 14 years old not properly restrained)
- 8 citations for texting while driving
“Most of the tickets were issued to adults, as you can see, and most of this did not involve East students,” Carney said. ” The violators just happened to be passing through the area on one of the three streets bordering the high school. Speaks well for the students.”