There is established in the Police Department a Traffic Division
to be under the control of an officer of Police appointed by and directly
responsible to the Chief of Police.
The Traffic Division with such aid as may be rendered by other
members of the Police Department shall enforce the street traffic
regulations of the City and all of the State vehicle laws applicable
to street traffic in the City to make arrests for traffic violations,
to investigate accidents and to cooperate with the City Traffic Engineer
and other officers of the City in the administration of the traffic
laws and in developing ways and means to improve traffic conditions
and to carry out those duties specially imposed upon the division
by this Code and the traffic ordinances of the City.
A.
The
Police Department or the Traffic Division thereof shall keep a record
of all violations of the traffic ordinances of the City or of the
State vehicle laws of which any person has been charged, together
with a record of the final disposition of all such alleged offenses.
Such record shall be so maintained as to show all types of violations
and the total of each. Said record shall accumulate during at least
a five (5) year period and from that time on the record shall be maintained
complete for at least the most recent five (5) year period.
B.
All
forms for records of violations and notices of violations shall be
serially numbered. For each month and year a written record shall
be kept available to the public showing the disposal of all such forms.
C.
All
such records and reports shall be public records.
It shall be the duty of the Traffic Division, assisted by other
Police Officers of the Department, to investigate traffic accidents,
to arrest and to assist in the prosecution of those persons charged
with violations of law causing or contributing to such accidents.
Whenever the accidents at any particular location become numerous,
the Traffic Division shall cooperate with the City Traffic Engineer
in conducting studies of such accidents and determining remedial measures.
The Traffic Division shall maintain a suitable system of filing
traffic accident reports. Accident reports or cards referring to them
shall be filed alphabetically by location. Such reports shall be available
for the use and information of the City Traffic Engineer.
The Police Department or the Traffic Division thereof shall
maintain a suitable record of all traffic accidents, warnings, arrests,
convictions and complaints reported for each driver, which shall be
filed alphabetically under the name of the driver concerned.
A.
The
Traffic Division shall annually prepare a traffic report which shall
be filed with the Mayor. Such report shall contain information on
traffic matters in the City as follows:
1.
The number of traffic accidents, the number of persons killed, the
number of persons injured, and other pertinent traffic accident data.
2.
The number of traffic accidents investigated and other pertinent
data on the safety activities of the Police.
3.
The plans and recommendations of the division for future traffic
safety activities.
The Traffic Division shall designate a type of pennant or other
identifying insignia to be displayed upon, or other method to be employed
to identify, the vehicles in funeral processions.
[CC 1974 §15-4; Ord. No. 805 §1, 6-26-1972]
A.
The
office of City Traffic Engineer is established. The Chief of Police
shall serve as City Traffic Engineer in addition to his/her other
functions and shall exercise the powers and duties with respect to
traffic as provided in this Title.
B.
The
City Traffic Engineer shall determine the installation and proper
timing and maintenance of traffic control devices, conduct engineering
analyses of traffic accidents and devise remedial measures, conduct
engineering investigation of traffic conditions, plan the operation
of traffic within the corporate limits of the City of Richmond, and
cooperate with other City Officials in the development of ways and
means to improve traffic conditions, and carry out the additional
powers and duties imposed by ordinances of the City.
A.
The
Chief of Police by and with the approval of the City Traffic Engineer
is hereby empowered to make regulations necessary to make effective
the provisions of the traffic ordinances of the City and to make and
enforce temporary or experimental regulations to cover emergencies
or special conditions. No such temporary or experimental regulation
shall remain in effect for more than ninety (90) days.
B.
The
City Traffic Engineer may test traffic control devices under actual
conditions of traffic.