By Marshall Young

February 7, 2008 | There are more police in Cache Valley than you'd think. Many are not the kind who will stop and have a few doughnuts, or make arrests. But they are potentially everywhere.

A Utah State student recently found this out while driving home from Smithfield. A police officer pulled him over based on a phone call made by some concerned citizens claiming he had run a red light several stoplights on Main Street.

"I wasn't sure why I was being pulled over. I was shocked when he told me why he pulled me over," the student said.

The police officer told him citizens had called to report the traffic violation. While this student couldn't understand why, on the word of two people, the police officer issue a citation. Logan City Police Department Capt. Eric Collins said that this type of thing happens fairly regularly.

"At least in Logan, citizens are willing to make the call and get involved," said Collins.

He says that this attitude is one of the reasons why Logan has been determined to be the safest metropolitan area in the country for the second year in a row.

The process for a citizen to report a traffic violation begins with a phone call to the police. Once they receive the description of the vehicle or license number, a police officer will normally try to look out for the vehicle and observe it to see if there is a secondary or additional violation.

If the officer fails to see a violation, the witness has the option of personally signing the citation. This signature means that if the citation ends up in court, the witness will be subpoenaed and required to appear in court to testify. Failure to appear in court will result in a dismissal of the charges, and a possible court action against the witness.

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