Joggers in Streets

A growing problem in Woodstock, and perhaps elsewhere, is with joggers who run in City streets and interfere with traffic. Recently I emailed Chief Robert Lowen and he replied that his officers do what they can to address this issue.

Sunday mornings seem to be a popular time for joggers on West South Street. This morning a woman was running west on W. South Street near Throop. She was running in the street against traffic, although there was a full sidewalk to her immediate left.

I watched as a Woodstock police car drove right past her at 8:30AM without stopping.

There are many reasons why an officer might not stop to tell a jogger to get out of the street…

He could have been enroute to a call. (Even so, he could have stopped and called out to her to use the sidewalk.)
He didn’t see her.
He didn’t think it was very important to tell her to get out of the street.
He knew it wouldn’t do any good to tell her to get out of the street; she’d just return to the street after he drove on.
His supervisor might not back him up.
The Department might not back him up.
He might have to write her a Warning.
She might call the P.D. to complain about harassment.

A few minutes later another jogger was running east in South Street with the flow of traffic in front of the high school.

What is needed is enforcement and publicity. Police officers should stop and make contact with the joggers, explain the dangers of their running in the street, and issue them a written Warning. The Police Department should periodically issue public statements on this topic and provide the local media with the numbers of contacts made - perhaps even invite a photographer to ride around on a Sunday morning and let him/her photograph the officer talking a jogger.

I didn't bother to call WPD about this; it seems to me that it should just be handled by the officer who just drives by and sees it. Since the Chief had just told me in July that his officers do address this issue (and I assume that officers at roll call were told to keep an eye out for joggers in the streets), I wondered why the officer drove right by the jogger without slowing.

Do you have a concern that you would like Chief Lowen to know about? Email him at policedept@woodstockil.gov and let him know about problems. Chief Lowen stated at one of his first monthly Coffees with the Chief (2nd Monday of the month, 7:00PM, at police headquarters) that the identity of a resident would not be released when an officer responded to a resident’s complaint. Ex., if a neighbor has a loud party or a late-night loud party, the officer is not to say who complained.