To the Editor:

This is in reference to a front-page story. (“Lucrative crimes, Sept. 7”)

As a citizen of Newsoms, I am certainly grateful for the consistency of the current Newsoms Police Department. In previous years, some former officers were “hit and miss,” and seemed to make little impact on the almost constant speeding through the town.

Now, as your article points out, people are very aware of the police presence in town. People coming into my place of work often comment about the police visibility and that Newsoms now has “a reputation” of being not the best place to speed. Violators now contribute to the town coffers, and this arrangement seems quite fair.

What I find interesting is the comments from the former Suffolk police officer about the “speed trap,” “a change has to be made,” and finding Newsoms police have a “zero-tolerance policy.”

Well, I certainly think 14 mph over the speed limit could warrant a speeding ticket without even crossing the threshold of being “zero tolerance.” As a former police officer, Mr. Reid probably already realizes that fact.

I find it strange that his name got in this paper’s story at all. How did the writer come across him for this story? Sounds like the proverbial sour grapes, maybe as a former cop, Mr. Reid thought he would not get cited.

When my family member got a speeding ticket in Suffolk not too long ago, no one was crying that Suffolk had a zero-tolerance for speeding. Really?

The “speed trap” issue is old and tired. If you aren’t speeding, then why would you care where the police officer was running radar? People get bent about Virginia not allowing radar detectors… if you aren’t breaking the law, you don’t need one anyway.

Keep up the fine job officers.

Michelle Steward
Newsoms