Aggressive patrolling for aggressive driving

WSP program aims to put a dent in aggressive driving on state roads

COLUMBIA BASIN — Traveling down Intestate 90 on a Friday afternoon, chances are Philip Jesse is out there. It just may be a little difficult to spot him.

Jesse doesn't drive the standard patrol car given to most troopers with the Washington State Patrol. Rather, he drives an unmarked Chevrolet Impala, part of a WSP program aimed at putting a dent in aggressive driving on the state's highways.

Fast and furious operators, drivers who weave in an out of traffic, speeders traveling at an excess of 15 miles per hour over the speed limit; these are the kind of violators Jesse is on the lookout for.

Jesse's is the only unmarked trooper in the Grant and Adams County area, but the WSP's Aggressive Driving Apprehension Team utilizes unmarked patrol cars throughout the state. The WSP's north central Washington district has five unmarked ADAT cars in counties throughout its coverage area.

Along Interstate 90, traffic is already traveling swiftly this Friday afternoon. Speeds seem to creep up as the weekend draws closer, and drivers are eager to get on their way to events in Spokane or Seattle. Jesse acknowledges that some of these speeders would find their way to the side of the road if he were driving a marked patrol car. But he's putting his concentration on a higher tier of drivers.

As he pulls over his first driver of the afternoon, Jesse admits he sometimes finds himself face to face with a motorist angry about receiving a ticket. But while some think the rap is unfair, he gets fewer and fewer arguments the higher the speed of a driver.

"For the most part, when I stop the people for the aggressive driving, the high speeds," Jesse says, "they know what they did."

Jesse later stops another car that had reached 88 on his radar. Jesse says the car is following a little too close for comfort at that high a speed, and three to four bicycles strapped to the back add another possible threat.

"Two car lengths out here is really too close," Jesse says, remarking on how a deer or a coyote could jump into the road at any moment.

Jesse himself sometimes has to move quickly to catch up to a driver, a task that can be more difficult in an unmarked car. Motorists that would normally move immediately out of his way are less obliged unless he flares his sirens and lights. Troopers in the Basin have a large area to cover, and it's not uncommon to put hundreds of miles on the Impala each day.

"They take a beating, we work them pretty hard," Jesse says of his car, "which you as the public want us to do."

The installed radar system can determine speeds of cars both behind and in front of Jesse's car, and a hand-held Lidar gun can be pinpointed on a specific vehicle from thousands of feet away. Every once in a while Jesse has to stop a motorist whose speeds have reached in excess of the 100-mph mark.

Jesse has a number of high-tech gadgets to determine a car's speed. But after 14 years on the job, he can often spot the speeder in a gaggle of cars even before the radar gun is pointed in their direction.

"You're still keeping the human factor in everything that you do," Jesse says.

But speed's not the only thing that constitutes an aggressive driver. A drunken driver, or a driver passing on a double yellow line — these are also symptoms of aggressive driving. What a trooper might originally diagnose as a possible drunken driver Jesse says might also be something completely different; an overly tired driver, or a driver suffering from an episode of a medical condition like diabetes.

At a later stop on I-90, Jesse clocks a driver at 90 mph. The person informs Jesse of a broken speedometer in the car during the stop. In addition to a $153 ticket, Jesse instructs the motorist to get their car fixed this week. Jesse issues a handful of $153 tickets this afternoon, the standard citation for traveling 20 mph over the posted limit.

This day is comprised primarily of patrolling for aggressive and risky drivers. However, if an incident like a drunken driving arrest or a serious car crash is called into their radio, Jesse says troopers will concentrate their efforts on those type of situations.

But keeping the roads safe is Jesse's primary duty. He will often stop a driver whose driving is considered aggressive, find out why, and give a citation if needed. On this afternoon, Jesse stops a car for a different speed violation and gives that driver a warning. On many occasions he says his job is just to inform people to allow enough time to get to their destination and try to stay safe on the roadway.

"That's the thing we try to tell them," Jesse says of speeders who are in a hurry, "take your time. Speed kills."