Ross Township in Pennsylvania had an epidemic of stop sign runners.

It was depicted in a 30-second TV newscast video in November of 2024 of four consecutive vehicles running a stop sign.

They were not California rolling stops. They were more like press it to the metal.

The intersection in question was a tad more than dangerous to police for stop sign runners. Issues ran the gamut from cross traffic going at a high rate of speed to no safe space for patrol units to monitor movements at the stop sign.

That prompted Ross Township Police to take a novel approach.

They deployed officers with drones.

One officer operated the drone. Other officers were on the ground. They were relayed the license plates of vehicles the officer using the drone observed failing to stop at the stop sign.

You read that right.

Police using drones to nail stop sign runners.

Is it something Manteca should consider?

Before going on, that likely can’t happen without an OK from Sacramento.

The California Legislature would need to give the green light as well as establish parameters on how they can be used and the threshold officers would need to issue a citation that would stand up if challenged in court.

Of course, such a suggestion would trigger a massive uproar.

You can hear the Greek Chorus.

Big Brother. Invasion of privacy. Entrapment. Money grabbing.

Let’s start with the money grabbing.

Depending upon the county, the cost of a stop sign running ticket in California is between $238 and $490.

The local “cut” going to the jurisdiction issuing the citation is less than 20 percent. The rest goes to the state and the courts.

Entrapment.

That’s easy to prevent.

Officers could place signs of some sort at the approach to the intersection announcing that the intersection is under the surveillance of police drones.

Honestly, why should police give anyone a warning?

Assuming every driver is licensed and can read English, they should know what a stop sign means.

Invasion of privacy.

It’s a public street. End of argument.

Big Brother.

See previous argument.

Why, you may ask, doesn’t the city just hire more police?

That is the $250,000 question.

A $250,000 question that many taxpayers would revolt against because in order to make a dent in stop signs running it would require a large number of additional officers.

A segue for a moment.

There are those that believe Manteca is wasting a lot of money assigning a traffic officer to review motorists caught breaking the law with red light enforcement cameras at five intersections.

The officer is required by California law to make sure all the “t”s are crossed and “i”s dotted before a citation can be officially issued.

Keep in mind in November, Manteca Police issued 1,036 red light running tickets.

That is easily 1,000 more red light tickets than they could issue in a given year with their five-officer traffic enforcement unit.

Catching red light runners without the cameras is dicey at best.

Not only do they have to get caught in the act requiring police officers to be in the right position, but even then, it has to be safe enough to do so without endangering the life of the public or the officer.

As for wasting an officer’s time making sure the citation passes muster that some slam “because it takes an officer off the street,” that is one officer in conjunction with the red-light cameras is doing the equivalent work of at least 14 officers.

That is the minimum it would take to have officers posted seven days a week 24/7 at five intersections.

To do so, by the way, would represent $3 million in salaries alone.

Fourteen officers are the equivalent of just under 20 percent of the current Manteca Police force that would be required to be deployed to the five intersections.

The entire reason for issuing red light tickets, with officers or video camera/radar technology, is to improve safety by getting drivers to pay attention when they are behind the wheel.

The issuing of citations is as much education as it is punishment.

Before going farther, consider a few points:

uTechnology is supposed to make people more efficient and effective at their jobs.

uMore than a few Manteca residents keep demanding the police do more and more to make city streets safer.

uAdding police officers is costly, especially on the scale the public seems to demand.

uPolice can’t be everywhere all the time. And they certainly can’t stay in one place 24/7, 365 days a year.

uThere are already cameras almost everywhere you go — in stores, in public spaces, and even on front porches.

uTechnology, properly monitored by trained professionals and adhering to strict court guidelines to enforce the law, is arguably more reliable than simply relying 100 percent of humans.

Technology has improved law enforcement and increased the effectiveness of catching lawbreakers from suspected felons to people who drive two-ton maiming and killing machines with complete disregard for traffic laws and the safety of others.

Police make heavy use of technology on the streets.

License plate readers on patrol vehicles and license plate readers mounted at intersections help catch suspects connected with felonies.

They are also effective at catching kidnappers.

The bottom line is technology helps level the playing field and it’s not just between lawbreakers and law enforcement.

It does the same when it comes to the generally law-abiding public and lawbreakers.

And at the end of the day, those who wantonly ignore basic traffic laws are breaking the law.

Red light cameras are designed to step up compliance to make every motorist driving take it seriously.

The state is already allowing speed radar cameras on a trial basis in select cities in areas identified as high non-compliance roads.

Perhaps drones being used to enforce the stop sign law in locations that meet specific criteria is something the California Legislature might want to consider.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com