Сhief Mike Morris talks rules of the road with buses, preparing for winter and the search for more officers By Joshua Wood, Stevenson Newspapers Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end to summer, though school in Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) started on August 21. According to Saratoga Police Chief Mike Morris, there are few issues when it comes to school related traffic.
Morris discussed how the Saratoga Police Department is approaching those issues, along with his thoughts on the summer and the search for new officers.
Back To School
With school in session in Saratoga, Morris said his department is still working on educating people about the loading and unloading zone for buses on Elm Street. Last year, due to construction on Spring Street, that zone was moved from the Saratoga Elementary School parking lot. That change is now permanent.
“We’re still educating the motoring public, specifically as it pertains to the bus stop at the elementary school. When the red lights are flashing and the stop sign’s displayed on the school bus, all traffic must stop,” said Morris. “ Last year there were some concerns. Nobody knew how it was going to be handled because it was new because of the Spring Street project. I think it’s going fairly well.”
While the police department has made some traffic stops of drivers around the bus zone on Elm Street, Morris said his department hasn’t issued any citations. Instead, he said, they are focusing on continuing to remind people of the rules of the road when it comes to bus stops.
Another school zone concern, said Morris, is the speed limit from 3rd Street to past Saratoga Middle/High School.
“We have had a little bit of concern on the 20 mile per hour zone along Elm Street. It is 20 miles an hour from 3rd street clear up past the high school. It’s very well marked, there’s signs,” said Morris. “We just have to adhere to them.”
Summer’s Over
With summer at a close, Morris said his department had a pretty good season in Saratoga.
“I’m fairly pleased with the way it went,” said Morris. “We were fortunate enough to get through this summer without having any major events. I thought it went pretty well.”
That includes this past weekend with the Labor Day holiday.
“It was business as usual as far as the rest of the weekends throughout the summer have been.
I think we saw an increase of traffic and people, but not an increase in issues that we were involved in at the police department,” said Morris. “It was a fairly uneventful weekend.”
With summer slipping into fall, snowfall will begin relatively soon. Morris said his department will begin talking to property owners with derelict vehicles in the public right-of-way.
“There was a lot of concern with the amount of snowfall we had last year. We ended up with, really, nowhere to put snow. One of the issues was derelict vehicles—those issues that are not running or unregistered—that are parked in the public right-of-way,” said Morris. “We’re going to start making an effort to notify those folks now so we can get those moved so, when the snow does come, we won’t have some of the issues we had last year.”
A Few Good Men or Women
The Saratoga Police Department is once again looking for officers, said Morris. They brought on John Moore, who previously worked for the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, earlier this year.
However, Tyler Christen left for the sheriff’s office to be the school resource officer for CCSD2.
This has brought the department back down to just three officers, including Morris. While the search is going for at least two more officers, it’s been difficult, he said.
“Unfortunately, locally—and nationwide, too—we’re having a hard time getting prospects to come for law enforcement jobs. At the national level, they don’t make law enforcement appealing anymore,” said Morris. “We’re a little bit shielded by that. It’s a good job, it’s a fair job.
Certainly it’s rewarding, a guy can make a reasonable living at it but it’s not a job that folks are really seeking at this point.”
Saratoga isn’t alone. The Town of Hanna has an ongoing search for a Marshal and the Rawlins Police Department is down five officers, according to Morris.
“What I’m doing right now is reaching out to folks that I know, agencies that I know, trying to hire somewhat within,” said Morris. “I would always love to get that experienced officer but, at the same time, we’ll train the right person. It could be a very rewarding career.”
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