Waltham police officers will sporadically be stationed at the crosswalk on South Street near the entrance to campus to educate students about using the pedestrian walk button and to issue citations to cars that speed or do not stop for pedestrians, Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said.The crosswalk was the site of a traffic accident involving a student bicyclist last semester and is located between the Foster Mods and the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

The student involved in the accident, Mary Cate Brower '10, could not comment for the Justice because the case regarding the accident is in litigation.

Callahan said in a phone interview that he ordered the Waltham officers to be stationed at the crosswalk on foot or in their cars at various points during the daytime and evening and that the officers had already seen a reduction in the speed of cars on South Street.

He said that historically Waltham officers have given out 20 to 40 citations per day to cars speeding on South Street.

Stationing the police officers is "kind of a reactive thing," Callahan said, and added that cars will continue to slow down if they know the police might be parked at the crosswalk.

The Waltham officer stationed last week said he cited a few drivers who crossed the double yellow line in order to get around drivers stopped at the crosswalk.

Alexandra Pizzi '10, who lives in the Foster Mods, has been concerned about students who are not paying attention when crossing the street and drivers who are not attentive to pedestrians.

She has been in contact since last fall with her community development coordinator, Brandeis police officers, Callahan and Erika Lamarre, director of Community Living for juniors and seniors, to find a way to make crossing the intersection safer.

Pizzi said that she was crossing when the pedestrian button was broken and a driver stopped to let her cross the street, but the next car did not stop and hit the first car, causing it to slide forward. "It amazes me how fast the cars go," Pizzi said, adding that cars speed up after slowing down to pass the Stanley Elementary School.

She said that students are oblivious and do not look before crossing the street, even when walking on campus. "It scares me. I'm really worried for all my friends," Pizzi said.

Callahan said there have been signs in Gosman, and an e-mail was sent out to the Brandeis community about how to safely use the crosswalk.

Callahan said that over the years there have been incidents where people were struck by cars and that this is an "area that we try to monitor to educate the public about speed and [how to use] the crosswalk."

Pizzi said she was very happy about the policemen stationed at the crosswalk last week and said, "Chief Callahan has really responded," while other Brandeis officers previously recommended that she use the footbridge at Gosman to cross the street.

Pizzi said the Student Union fought several years ago to install the crosswalk and she is frustrated that "as a student, I'm blamed for trying to cross in that area.