Q. Will the Carolina Beach police officer who ran the red light at the intersection of South College Road and 17th Street at approximately 7:45 a.m. Friday, May 25, have to pay the $50 Safelight ticket? He did not have on emergency signals and was seen heading to a local physician’s office.

A. As it stands, there is no record of such an infraction by a Carolina Beach Police officer.

There is a protocol in place in Wilmington to address traffic infractions involving law enforcement personnel that are caught by the local traffic cameras.

City Traffic Engineer Donald Bennett said, “As with all emergency service providers, any infraction captured by the Safelight system is forwarded to the vehicle operator’s supervisor. We request that the supervisor review the images and video and take circumstances specific to that incident into consideration.”

Bennett continued, “If the supervisor determines that the operator was not acting within the protocols established by that entity, the citation is issued and transferred to the vehicle operator. The vehicle operator at that point is responsible for the citation and is entitled to the process afforded any person receiving a Safelight citation.”

To date, no infractions have been reported to the Carolina Beach Police Department. CBPD Lt. Anthony Marcucilli said, “I don’t know of any officer that day that was off of the island.”

Marcucilli said the department would address any situation whereas an officer ran a red light. He said, “They would definitely be held responsible and pay the fine.”

RELATED LINKS:

Has Wilmington’s red-light program reduced accidents at intersections?

Why do police officers leave their cars running when they’re not in them?

Date posted: May 31, 2012

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