To the editor:

On Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, the area was hit by a storm with gale winds that knocked out power.

Shortly before 5 p.m., as I was driving through Warren heading into Barrington on Rte. 114N, a car with Massachusetts plates pulled in front of me. The driver took a right onto Sowams Road, immediately after crossing the Warren Bridge.

What I could barely see, due to the inclement weather, nightfall, and lack of home and street lighting, was a Barrington patrol car blocking access to Sowams. Had it not been for the blinking emergency blue lights on the patrol car, it would have been nearly impossible to have seen it was parked crossways across the road. Due to the storm and poor visibility, the police car’s exact location was hard to place, despite its emergency lights.     

The Massachusetts driver initially did not grasp the car’s position, either, since she turned onto Sowams, but she did once she left County Road. 

This left me wondering why Barrington has chosen to mark some of its black vehicles with dark markings.  What is the purpose for this? Did somebody think that was cool or sophisticated? Police departments have long utilized unmarked vehicles for various purposes, so why jeopardize the officer’s and public’s safety by using markings that prevent rapid identification that a police vehicle is present, especially during an emergency safety situation?

National Grid had notified me at 4:08 p.m. that the power was out. There was time to have placed a vehicle with reflective markings across Sowams Road instead of a black-on-black marked patrol car.

My thoughts were the police car could have been t-boned by the Massachusetts driver. The town may have insurance, but what comfort is that to the officer and driver had an accident occurred? 

Marcia M. Weeden

Barrington