Stockbridge Police Chief Darrell Fennelly

We knew SU readers would be interested, so we asked the Chief about:

The oval in the middle of the intersection at Red Lion Inn corner is a traffic calming device created there to give motorists a sense of direction. All of the lines that were installed last year are intended to provide a more orderly path of direction by shrinking the vast area of the intersection. If used properly, motorists should be driving around the oval instead of cutting directly through the intersection in a direct angle line.

While the intersection is unique by utilizing a three-way-stop formation, the same rules of the road apply to the three stop signs as would be applicable to a four-way-stop intersection. Motorists at the stop signs must yield the right of way to:

Traffic heading west on Main Street to south onto South Street
Another vehicle that has already come to a full stop
A vehicle directly to your right that has stopped at the same time as you

(At a three- or four-way stop, vehicles must go in the order they stopped. The first to stop is the next to go. If in doubt, give the right of way to the driver on your right.)

Please note that three- and four-way stop intersections can cause confusion. Try to make eye contact with the drivers of other vehicles to judge their intentions and avoid crashes. In a perfect world this is how it would work. Unfortunately, with the size of the intersection and the aggressive and distracted driving that we so often see, it is important to proceed with extreme caution and at slow speed.

This information can be found at the Mass.Gov website under Chapter 4, Rules of the Road.

More from the Chief...

Another topic that we have recently become aware of is a new type of telephone phishing scam. The caller will claim to be a U.S. Marshal and demand that you comply with their instructions. They claim the victims have outstanding warrants, court or legal fees, or other particular payments that are owed to avoid arrest or jail time.

They want the victim to provide bank information, transfer money or purchase prepaid debit cards. In order to sound legitimate, the caller may provide a badge number or a case number. They may even name drop local law enforcement officials and judges to sound authentic. It is likely that the phone number will be spoofed to show on the caller ID as a government facility or courthouse.

The United States Marshals would never ask for credit card numbers, wire transfers or other financial information over the phone.

Report any such incidents to the Stockbridge Police Department. To report a suspected internet facilitated crime to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center use the following internet address: WWW.IC3.GOV

I am happy to report that our new Hybrid cruiser is working out well and the response to the new style of graphics have been positive. The officers assigned to that cruiser have reported no difference in performance but are reporting a significant drop in the amount of gas used. The fuel needle is barely moving over the course of an entire shift as opposed to using approximately one quarter to a third of a tank of fuel in the course of a shift in the all-gas cruisers. I think that's pretty good considering the cost of a gallon a gas these days.

Best, Chief Darrell G. Fennelly

Photo: Jay Rhind