CINCINNATI — Cincinnati City Council wants to get a better idea of how police officers are enforcing traffic laws. As police conduct "traffic blitzes," members of the council want to get a better idea of how well it's working.
Enforcement and investments are the two components of this plan. Over the past year, the city invested more than $7 million on things like speed humps and bump outs.
Data from Cincy Insights shows police made 15,512 traffic stops this year alone. That's up by nearly 3,000 since last year. The numbers show traffic stops are on the rise since the pandemic, which also is when CPD started doing their "traffic blitzes."
"It appears as driving habits have got a little out of hand post-pandemic," CPD Chief Teresa Theetge said during a city council meeting on Nov. 1, 2022. "I personally witness some of those as my family has and you as individuals have."
At that meeting last November, Lt. Robert Van Horn said their hope was to reduce any serious to fatal crashes.
"While the numbers don't always appear that they're escalating, it felt like hazardous driving was increasing and I think that the blitz has kind of shown us that there's a significant danger in speeding and aggressive driving," Van Horn said.
Council member Mark Jeffreys said the previous year's resident survey shows community members want more traffic enforcement.
"People are seeing the impact of cars speeding through neighborhoods landing on their front lawns, hitting pedestrians, and so I think it is encouraging that you are seeing it in neighborhoods," Jeffreys said.
We've been posting about some of the speeds we’ve been citing drivers for during our current traffic safety enforcement blitz.
— Cincinnati Police Department (@CincyPD) December 9, 2022
In this video you get to virtually ride along with Officer Alejandro Santa Jordan during a traffic stop he made in Columbia-Tusculum on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/z1dkr28EZ3
Last year, CPD posted an example of what officers see on patrol during the "traffic blitz."
Data shows the West End, Westwood, East Price Hill, Avondale and South Fairmount lead Cincinnati with the most traffic stops between January 2021 and November 2023. While Westwood leads in both traffic stops and crashes, the Central Business District is second in number of crashes, but only 16th when it comes to traffic stops.
"Enforcement is a piece of the puzzle, it is not the only answer," Jeffreys said.
That's why Jeffreys wants CPD to give them:
- Traffic citation numbers overall and by neighborhood for 2023;
- Updated citations and crashes by neighborhood for the previous four years;
- The number of "traffic blitzes" there were in 2023 and the number of citations and stops for each blitz and;
- Plans for "traffic blitzes" and other plans for traffic enforcement in 2024
"You need a balance where it is a part of the mix of solutions that we want in our communities," Jeffreys said.
City council hopes to have this report within the next 60 days.
