T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Chief Jon Thomas, pictured conducting a traffic stop, and the State Center Police Department, in partnership with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Patrol, conducted a 24-hour Highway 30 enforcement project from Friday at 5 a.m. to Saturday at 5 a.m.

STATE CENTER — Traffic along Highway 30 is a frequent cause for concern within State Center, especially with drivers from all over the Midwest coming to and from nearby Ames and Iowa State University on a regular basis. On Friday beginning at 5 a.m., the State Center Police Department (SCPD), in partnership with the Iowa State Patrol (ISP) and the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), conducted a 24-hour special enforcement project along the well-traveled road, and Chief Jon Thomas spoke to the T-R during and after a ride along session about the goals and the findings of the initiative.

The results, which were shared in a press release on Saturday, were relatively encouraging from Thomas’s perspective: there were just 29 speed-related citations (with a maximum speed of 92 miles per hour register), one for an open alcohol container, one for window tint and one for registration. In all, there were 56 warnings issued, and additionally, troopers with the ISP conducted 14 inspections, placed four vehicles out of service, issued 21 citations and seven warnings for traffic related violations.

The objective, Thomas said, was to be visible as notice of the project was posted to social media well in advance.

“Our goal was not to play hide in bushes and catch people. It was ‘Hey, we’re going to be out here,’ and every one of us has been busy all morning,” he said.

Thomas noted that multiple semi drivers failed to pull over for nearly three miles when the ISP Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit attempted to stop them because they simply weren’t paying attention (his excuse — his music was too loud).

“Slow down. Get off your phone. Make people think twice. Even if it’s only for a day, it’s a day,” he said. “And the reason we do it on a weekday is we want that commuter traffic. We want that commuter traffic in the morning. We want that commuter traffic in the afternoon.”

Some of the warnings were for things like out-of-state license plates (Illinois being a prime example) where the name of the state is obscured by a cover or following too close. Perhaps the most shocking development for Thomas, however, was that through the morning, he hadn’t found anyone on their phone while driving.

“I think people have really adopted that. Hands free really means hands free, not looking at your phone for the map,” he said.

He was also impressed that there had only been one car clocked over 90 miles per hour and felt that efforts to encourage drivers to slow down were paying dividends. For a small department like the SCPD, which typically only has one or two cars on patrol at any given time, the opportunity to collaborate with larger agencies is always an added bonus.

While they won’t be as aggressively patrolling the road all the time, Thomas said the lessons can be applied to everyday police work going forward.

“It just makes us better at what we do,” he said.

Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.