Science Project Evolves into Real Life Police Experiment for St. Raphael Student

When St. Raphael School 8th grader Aiden Bruder was assigned to do a Science Project a few weeks ago, he wasn’t content to simply grow bacteria in a petri dish or observe how long it takes for mold to form on bread.

Aiden, a Rocky River resident, honed in on some real-life police work.

His idea? To determine if the presence of a ‘Slow Children at Play” or ‘Radar” sign influences driving behavior.

His hypothesis: If driver speeds are measured with the presence of a radar speed sign, they will drive slower than if there was nothing at all, or a “slow, children at play” warning sign.

The challenge: Testing the theory.

That’s where the Rocky River Police Dept. came in. Aiden, an avid fan of the TV show ‘Live PD,’ made a few phone calls to the department and caught the attention of Chief Kelly Stillman. Chief Stillman was intrigued and offered his assistance and the assistance of his public information officer, Lt. George Lichman, to learn more about the science fair project. So they met in October and developed a plan.

“During the meeting, Lt. Lichman could not have been more accommodating and supportive; he offered to not only assist in the project by putting up a radar speed sign at Aiden’s choice of location, but also offered the use of an official LIDAR Laser Speed device to accurately record driver’s speed as well as analytical data that was recorded to support his findings,” reports Aiden’s father, Rob Bruder.

Lt. Lichman also provided a full tour of the RRPD facilities, answering all of Aiden’s questions and providing additional detail on the services that the RRPD offers within the community. He also introduced Aiden to additional officers on duty.

The next evening, Lt. Lichman stopped by Aiden’s house to demonstrate how the LIDAR device operated, and provided a brief ride in his police cruiser – describing details on the equipment within, while they secured the exact location of where the science fair testing would take place.

Aiden began his trials the week of October 28. He monitors driver’s speeds on Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school from 7:15-7:30 a.m. and then again in the evenings after school from 6-6:15 p.m., as well as Saturday afternoons from 1:30-2 p.m.

Aiden is pleased to see that most of the speeds captured thus far are well under the posted 35MPH speed limit – with a couple of exceptions.

The project concluded on Saturday, November 16, with Aiden recording the final round of speed detection with the use of a Radar Speed sign that was installed by the RRPD on Monday, November, 11, on the corner of Bates and Detroit Rd.

“While we will have to wait and see if Aiden’s project will be awarded a blue ribbon in the science fair when judging commences at St. Raphael’s in Jan. 2020 – it’s because of Chief Stillman and Lt. Lichman who have instilled a new passion for learning for Aiden,” says Rob Bruder. “Aiden is eager and excited to do his science homework without his parents pestering him to do so. We cannot thank Chief Stillman and Lt. Lichman enough for all of their support and resources they have provided to Aiden, but more importantly the time they invested in our son’s educational experience.”