Residents trying to beat oncoming trains by illegally passing through one of Selma's nine railroad crossings will be in for a surprise Tuesday morning. That surprise could be a citation, as officers with the Selma Police Department and Union Pacific Police Department will be out conducting a railroad safety operation called CARE, short for Crossing Accident Reduction Enforcement. "We think this is a positive enforcement program to visit periodically, just because it reinforces railroad crossing safety, and, we wanna save lives," said Tom Whiteside, Selma Police Chief.

During the enforcement, which occurs from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sept. 2, a Union Pacific freight train will make its way up and down through Selma.

At the same time, officers with the Selma PD and Union Pacific will be staged near crossings, looking for drivers or pedestrians violating railroad crossing laws. Union Pacific officers will also be staged inside the coach of the freight train, looking for and calling in violations when they see them occur.

Specifically, though, law enforcement will be on the lookout for things like drivers who try to proceed through a railroad crossing as the arms of the crossing are coming down. They'll also be on the lookout for motorists who stop on the railroad tracks, which can sometimes happen if traffic gets backed up on a particular street.

For pedestrians, officers will be looking for people illegally walking through railroad crossings.

Overall, Whiteside said, the aim of the enforcement is to educate the public and keep them safe.

"We want to prevent future incidents," he said. "With trains traveling here at (such) speed and frequency, if we can work at preventing, educating and reducing those crashes, injuries and fatalities, we see it as a positive effort."

Still, this isn't the first time the Selma PD has held this kind of operation.

Their last effort, in 2004, consisted of a two-day enforcement project at all crossings within the city limits. Whiteside estimates that the department nabbed around 10 code violators during that operation.

The same operation was held most recently in late May in Fresno. During their efforts in Fresno, authorities passed out 60 citations and had six vehicles towed.

Because of that recent operation in Fresno, Whiteside said it was time to revisit the program in Selma.

Historically, Selma also has a history of fatalities in the city due to violations of railroad crossing laws.

The most recent, on June 6, 2003, claimed the life of Marion (J.R.) Coots, a local tow truck driver who was hit and killed by a Union Pacific locomotive. Coots was trying to cross the now-closed North Street railroad crossing when he was struck by a train heading southbound. That same crossing was used by others who were killed in separate collisions.

In 2006, a Fresno County jury found that the city of Selma, Union Pacific, the Public Utilities Commission and Coots himself were all -- at various percentages -- at fault for the accident. The jury eventually ended up awarding the Coots family more than $2 million in damages.

Because Coots was found partially at fault for the accident, his family wasn't awarded the full sum of their award.

More recently, figures indicate the Selma PD hasn't had much trouble with people violating rail crossing laws.

Selma police say they cited four drivers in 2007 and at least one so far in 2008 for a railroad crossing vehicle code violation. This code prohibits drivers from doing things like passing underneath railroad gates as well as stopping too close to a railroad track.

Still, other officials with the Selma PD like Lt. Myron Dyck said that officers oftentimes might see the violations, but can't always stop a person and cite them for committing the crime.

This could be due to a lack of proximity between the officer to the offender, or due to the dangers of an oncoming train.

In the latter situation, Dyck said catching an offender isn't worth the potential risks.

"(We're) not going to ask officers to endanger their life," he said.

Nonetheless, Dyck, like Whiteside, believes that Tuesday's operation should be a help to officers.

"(We'll be) able to deal with them in an effective manner and hopefully educate themselves and the motoring public on how dangerous it is to do that," he said.

Others with the PD, like Motor Officer Lance Pearce, agree that this enforcement effort is necessary.

"It's absolutely important," Pearce said.