NTMP - Neighborhood Speed Watch Program

The Olympia Neighborhood Speed Watch Program is a public awareness program that involves recording speeds and notifying the registered owners if their vehicle was observed being driven in excess of the speed limit. Through this program, concerned citizens can play an active role in helping solve speeding problems in their neighborhood.

How the program works:

  • Contact the Olympia Police Department: Citizen groups can call the Olympia Police Department and express their willingness to initiate a Neighborhood Speed Watch Program in their neighborhood.
  • Citizen training: Citizens wanting to proceed with the program are briefed on the requirements expected of them, such as proper data collection, use of equipment, and the proper behavior of the participanats while conducting the data collection.
  • Schedule a time to use the radar equipment: Working together, the neighborhood residents schedule a time to collect data. This usually happens during various days and times when residents feel speeding is the worst. Two people are required for each data collection. One person is responsible for operating the radar unit, while the other records the required vehicle information.
  • Return equipment: Once the data collection is complete, the radar equipment is returned to the Olympia Police Department along with the completed "Speeding Vehicle Report" forms.
  • Forward information to Washington State Department of Motor Vehicles: City staff send license numbers of speeding vehicles to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in Olympia for a list of registered owners and vehicle descriptions. The official description of the vehicle (received from DMV) will be cross-checked with the description of the vehicle given by the citizens.
  • Letters mailed to violaters: A letter from the Olympia Police Department is then sent to the registered owners of all matched vehicles. The letter advises them of the observed violation and encourages them to drive at or below the speed limit when traveling on neighborhood streets.

This is a Public Awareness Program and notices to registered owners do not constitute notice of violation, go on driving records or impose a fine.

For more information contact:

City of Olympia Police Department - Traffic Unit
Phone: 360.753.8001
Fax: 360.753.8143
Or oEmaillympiapolice@ci.olympia.wa.us