Highway Patrol recorded short patrols to justify grant

Last year, state Highway Patrol Lt. John C. Ivarsson reported conducting 88 special patrols in construction work zones as part of a federally funded effort to convince motorists to slow down.

His enforcement constituted driving from his home in Apex through a work zone to and from his desk job at the patrol headquarters in Raleigh. Each patrol lasted 15 minutes. He drove in an unmarked car and wrote one ticket for all of 2007.

Sgt. Charles R. Joyner said he recorded 35 patrols of 15 minutes each. He issued six tickets in 2007. Two other troopers who recorded dozens of patrols no longer than 15 minutes declined to talk to a reporter but confirmed to patrol officials that they recorded time spent driving through work zones. All four said they marked the time at the request of superiors.

It doesn't sound like what the federal government intended when it paid more than $1.6 million for special patrols. Officials with the Federal Highway Administration, which puts up the money for the special patrols, said they expected more than what law enforcement officers would do as part of their regular duties. Doug Hecox, a spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration, said drive-throughs don't cut it.

"If they are just passing through, that deserves some looking into," he said.

An analysis of patrol activity data by The News & Observer shows a surge in 15-minute construction zone patrols after a patrol major sent an e-mail message in 2007 telling the troopers to record "all time spent in or travelling through a work zone." Maj. Gregory Hayes' order, issued April 26, 2007, told troopers that the patrol was behind in work zone patrols and needed to increase them so that the Highway Patrol could justify the $1.6 million it received for the special enforcement.

"Many staff members, including myself, commute daily through work zones but never record the hours," Hayes wrote. Hayes said in an interview that he did not intend for troopers to count time spent just passing through work zones.

The News & Observer learned about Hayes' e-mail message in November, prompting then-Commander Fletcher Clay to issue a clarification of Hayes' order, telling troopers that merely passing through work zones does not constitute special enforcement.

Patrol spokesman Lt. Everett Clendenin said after an N&O report on the e-mail message, also that month, that troop captains had checked to see whether troopers were counting driving through work zones as special patrols. The captains had told him none were found.

Patrol data and interviews with troopers show otherwise.

It's unclear how many of those 15-minute patrols were drive-throughs. Patrol Sgt. Jonathan Leonard, who works out of Rowan County, said each of his 15-minute patrols -- he conducted 136 last year, the most in the patrol -- was legitimate. He said he was either trying to catch traffic violators or supervising others in the zones. He issued 20 tickets.

Fewer deaths

Patrol officials say the special enforcement is working. They said fatal accidents in work zones dropped from 26 in 2004 to nine last year, and crashes fell from 1,521 to 989. NCDOT officials said work zone construction projects also have declined during that three-year period.

Patrol officials maintain that a special patrol can last only 15 minutes.

"That time in a work zone could save someone's life," said Lt. Col. Jamie Hatcher, the patrol's deputy commander.

But the 15-minute patrols conducted by Ivarsson and others have raised questions. Clendenin said the patrols are being re-examined.