Cosi and APD partner to install radar speed signs
Published 1:30 am Monday, February 23, 2026
The Aberdeen Police Department [APD] and the city of Cosmopolis have partnered to install two radar speed signs, one in each direction, on First Street.
APD, which has had an interlocal agreement with the city of Cosmopolis for call response and periodic patrols since May of 2024, expanded their efforts to 24/7 coverage at the start of the year as Cosmopolis sundowned its police department. These new pieces of equipment will serve as a force multiplier for APD and will provide valuable traffic enforcement data.
According to Cosmopolis Mayor Linda Springer, the equipment, which was installed by Public Works Lead Donnie Fowler, and paid for in part by a grant from the Grays Harbor Community Foundation, is a logical extension of the partnership between the city and APD.
“When I came into office in ‘24, there was a push to lay off our police department and bring the county in at the time. We brought Aberdeen in. We had a very good working relationship … so we really got to know these gentlemen and officers, and then this year, it was very apparent we could not financially continue with our police,” Springer said. “We have a great partnership [with APD]. They’re very vigilant in the community. I meet with the chief [Dale Green], twice a month. They’ve been attending our [city] council meetings for over two years now. It’s a great partnership, and this technology, because this highway is very active, and the signs that they provided us have really made an impact on slowing down traffic. We actually have, I think, three, maybe four officers, that live here in Cosmopolis, that work for Aberdeen. I was a little concerned about how citizens would receive this, but it’s been positive. It’s a win-win situation.”
Commander Steve Timmons says the new signs give APD a constant presence in First Street even when officers are on patrol elsewhere.
“This is a very busy, busy street, and the whole point is just to get people to slow down, especially where they’re placed here in the central part of the city,” Timmons said. “For us, it’s nice to have that because we’re not always going to be in the city of Cosi. We’re kind of spread out. So having that is kind of an extra resource to get people to slow down. It’s a great tool.”
The radar devices, which are mounted to speed limit signs, are solar powered and data is transferred to a police officer’s or technician’s laptop via Bluetooth. APD Chief Dale Green echoed Timmons’ sentiments and said that the data the radar speed signs collect can be used to increase safety but also make traffic enforcement decisions.
“We’ve been responding to Cosi my entire 29 years. It’s what we do in Grays Harbor. We’re all too small to do anything by ourselves. We just jump in and help when we can and we’ve had a formal relationship since May of ‘24, as the mayor said. So this seemed like the next logical step and anything we could do to step up and help the people we certainly want to do,” Green said. “This is going to be a great tool for them. It collects data, lets us know how fast people are going, how many cars go past and gives us a breakdown on dates and time of day. We can use that data somewhere down the road perhaps to pursue some more traffic safety grants to do things to get people to slow down as they’re coming through town. If we see there’s an issue that we need to address, then we can definitely use that data to point us to where we need to be. [Right now] it’s darker, lower visibility, kids are all going to school, so we want to make sure everybody slows down.”
