The Porter County Board of Commissioners approved an hourly rate of $15 for off-duty Porter County Sheriff’s officers to use their take-home squad cars for traffic enforcement on the Porter County side of Lakes of the Four Seasons beginning July 1 as part of a two-year pilot outlined in Indiana Senate Bill 1155.
“This is just focusing on the Porter County side. I believe they are in conversation with Lake County to mirror what we are doing,” said Porter County Sheriff Jeff Balon. He said LOFS will pay an additional $60 per hour for the officer staffing, which is planned for three random four-hour shifts per week.
Any Indiana traffic law may be enforced by the officers, but Balon stressed “this is not to enforce HOA violations of the Four Seasons. This is strictly for traffic enforcement of state statute.”
The bill was devised after specific lobbying efforts on the part of LOFS. Balon said before the passage of SB 1155, officers could only stop motorists for three types of traffic violations on private roads: drunk driving, reckless driving, and traffic arm violations.
“Because it’s public and private roads, we really had to work through this and it’s been a daunting process,” he said of the effort that took years.
LOFS is the only neighborhood with private roads in Porter County where the law will take effect, though there are a few others throughout the state where police may patrol. The criteria are a minimum of 15 miles of roads and 1,500 lots.
“There’s a lot of complaints of intoxicated drivers out there,” Balon said, adding that speeding and unsafe operation of golf carts are other top concerns. Security there could write tickets, “but the cars didn’t have to stop for them,” said Balon.
He’s currently the president of the Indiana Sheriff’s Association and said he’s spent a lot of time in Indianapolis working with lobbyists and legislators to see the bill crafted and passed.
He stressed that his officers do not answer to LOFS. “They (the HOA) don’t have any say in what we do and how we do it,” Balon said, adding that approximately $3 from every paid ticket comes back to the issuing agency to be used for training.
“Because this is a brand-new program, we don’t know what direction it’s going to go for the next two years,” he said.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.