Welcome
Welcome to #TrafficTipTuesday!
Sgt. Lane may be retired, but that doesn’t mean we’re retiring Traffic Tip Tuesday, it’s just under new management. Today we’d like to introduce you to Sgt. Jerry Eaton, our new Traffic Unit supervisor.
And next Tuesday, join us around 12:30 for a Facebook Live, when you’ll be able to ask questions directly to Sgt. Eaton!
“Hello Facebook friends. My name is Sergeant Jerry Eaton and I am very excited to be taking part in my first Traffic Tip Tuesday. For those regular followers that didn’t hear, Sergeant Mike Lane retired last week after 25 years of service to the citizens of Harford County. Sergeant Lane did an amazing job and I am very much looking forward to picking up where he left off. For my first post I thought it would be appropriate to simply introduce myself. I began my employment with the Sheriff’s Office in 2002, almost immediately I fell in love with the traffic enforcement portion of the job. As a young Deputy, when I wasn’t removing impaired drivers from county roadways, I was busy stopping cars for traffic violations and trying to educate drivers on the importance of highway safety. Throughout my career I have been fortunate enough to attend countless hours of traffic related training. Everything from Advanced Crash Reconstruction to Advanced Roadside Impaired Driver Education, to Digital Photography For The Crash Reconstructionist (yes, that is an actual course and I’ve attended it!) I was also previously assigned to the Traffic Unit as a Corporal before being promoted to Sergeant.
Some of you may also recognize me from my other role in the Sheriff’s Office. For nine years, I was a member of the Sheriff’s School Policing Team. I spent eight of those years assigned to Edgewood High School (GO RAMS!!!) During my time at the school I created the first criminal justice club in EHS history. A large portion of our after-school meetings dealt with strategies to help keep new or young drivers safe behind the wheel.
When I am not at work, I enjoy spending time with my boys. My wife and I have a blended family which consists of six sons between the ages of 22 and 16. This means that we currently have 3 licensed drivers, one with a learners permit and two more (a set of twins) who will be getting their learner’s permits soon. This should give you a small glimpse of why I feel traffic safety is so important.
The Highway Safety Office has a goal of getting to zero traffic related deaths on our nation’s highways. I won’t go into all the details of their strategy here, but you can read about their programs and mission at towarszerodeaths.org
(there will certainly be more about this in upcoming Traffic Tip Tuesday posts). I feel as though with the right amount of driver education, enforcement efforts, and modifying driver behaviors, this is a very reachable goal. Especially here in Harford County.
I will close by repeating how very excited I am to be here in the Traffic Unit, and if you see me out and about, feel free to stop and say ‘hi’. As always, in the words of (retired) Sergeant Lane, stay safe, slow down, wear your seatbelt, put down the phone, and drive sober.”