Undercover Crosswalk Operation Nets 48 Citations in 8 Hours for Portsmouth Police

PORTSMOUTH, RI—In just eight hours, Portsmouth police ticketed 48 drivers after they failed to stop at a crosswalk on Turnpike Avenue near Portsmouth High School recently.

Each driver will now have to cough up $85 for the violation, and police hope that each driver will think twice before rolling through a crosswalk as pedestrians are trying to cross—and warn their friends and family members that they need to do the same.

Police call it the Portsmouth Pedestrian Protection Initiative, and the operation lasted a total of just eight hours. Undercover officers donned clothes to look like high school students and entered the crosswalk as nearby units watched.

"Please keep all our pedestrians safe!" police said in a post on their Facebook page. "Remember to yield to pedestrians crossing in our crosswalks especially now that school is back in session."

Last year, the effort netted 36 citations in eight hours.