The Traffic Safety Unit is responsible for responding to abandoned vehicles on public and private property in Davenport.  Vehicles found in violation of the City's abandoned vehicle ordinance are tagged with a warning sticker.  The owner is provided time to move the vehicle or bring it into compliance with the ordinance.  Follow this link to learn more about the abandoned vehicle ordinance (click on Davenport City Code and then, on the left side of the screen, click on the + beside Municipal Code and then, go to Title 10 and to 10.76 Abandoned, Illegally Parked, Impounded or Junk Vehicles).  If the owner does not move the vehicle or bring it into compliance within the prescribed time limit, the vehicle is towed and impounded.  The owner is then required to obtain a vehicle release and pay towing and storage fees in order to regain possession of the vehicle.  If the vehicle is not claimed within the time period allowed by law, the vehicle is sold at public auction.  Each month, the public auction disposes of unclaimed vehicles.  Follow this link to learn more about purchasing vehicles at the public auction (click on Fred's Auctions).

Traffic Safety Unit officers are responsible for the complete investigation of all fatal, incapacitating, and serious injury motor vehicle traffic accidents that occur in the City of Davenport. These officers are highly trained in technical accident investigation, accident reconstruction, vehicle dynamics, and driver/passenger injury investigation. Working these investigations up through and including expert court testimony is another responsibility of the C.I.U. officers. They are occasionally called upon to assist other local agencies with fatal and serious injury crash investigation as well.

When time permits, an additional responsibility of the Traffic Safety Unit officers is the investigation of hit and run traffic accidents that are reported to the Davenport Police Department. These investigations include evidence collection, examination, and identification; driver identification; and the arrest of hit and run offenders.

The primary responsibility of the Adult School Crossing Guards is to provide control and supervision of children crossing city streets to and from school at designated locations within the City of Davenport.  The Davenport Crossing Guard Program is staffed by dedicated employees who safely cross hundreds of children each day. To accomplish this, Crossing Guards selflessly work daily in all kinds of weather throughout the school year. The dedicated employees are overseen by the Traffic Safety Unit.

The Traffic Safety Unit is responsible for general and selective traffic enforcement within the City of Davenport. General enforcement is performed when the Traffic Safety Officer randomly picks sites to check for speeders, traffic signal violators, and other types of violations. Selective enforcement is designed to send the officer to a specific area where citizen complaints or an unusually high number of traffic accidents are occurring. Each fall, officers concentrate their efforts in school zones to ensure pedestrian safety for school children and the Davenport Adult School Crossing Guards.

 The Traffic Safety Officers handle traffic and crowd control for all of Davenport's special events, such as the Bix 7 Race, the Bix at 6 practice races, the annual Halloween Parade, the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, and many others. They also make up components of motorcades when dignitaries visit Davenport.

 With the assistance of state funding grants, officers investigate the illegal sale of tobacco to minors, as well as assisting smaller Scott County communities with traffic enforcement duties.

 Officers assigned to the Traffic Safety Unit utilize marked police vehicles, unmarked vehicles, and motorcycles to perform enforcement activities.