CINCINNATI — Cincinnati police officers issued 26,473 citations in 2023. That's up from 2022, 2021 and 2020.
Part of the city's overall traffic enforcement comes from "traffic blitzes," where officers patrol certain areas of the city that are considered problems for speeding and crashes. Cincinnati police are planning four more traffic blitzes in 2024.
Westwood, East Price Hill, West Price Hill, Lower Price Hill and South Fairmount round out the top five neighbors in Cincinnati when it comes to citations.
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New data from the city also shows a seven-year low for crashes. From 2022 to 2023, the number of crashes decreased by 6%. Over a six-year average, the number went down by 12%.
"It's certainly moving in the right direction," council member Mark Jeffreys said. "There's not one solution to this issue, we've designed our roads over decades to be mini-highways and what we're doing now is we're reversing that."
While the number of citations in 2023 increased compared to the previous three years, the numbers are nowhere near 2019's 35,810 citations.
"What we're looking at here is excessive speed, we're 15+ over, I don't think you'll see a single ticket from this agency that's petty — we're way past that," said Lt. Robert Van Horn, head of the city's traffic unit. "I think there was a time and a place for that, we're looking at 15, 20 over, we know what Colerain looks like, River Road, the highway, it's just like an autobahn, Beechmont, and so there's a lot of education and the number one driver of fatal crashes is going to be speed, impairment and safety restraints."
During Wednesday's Public Safety & Governance Committee meeting, Jeffreys asked police about metrics, and what officers look at to measure success.
"What I'm trying to say in short is specifically look at crash data, combined with community complaints, that's when we deploy our personnel, specifically with the blitzes," said Lt. Col. Mike John, patrol bureau commander for the city.
John said, much like crime data, officers have to look at problem areas and then deploy officers to those areas. He said he feels that carries more weight for reducing the number of crashes.
"One of the things I would love to talk more about is, as we're citing people, is this having any disproportional impact on any community," council member Anna Albi said asking about equity, and whether or not officers are targeting certain areas.
"We are not targeting a number, and I don't think any of us care about what the number is," Van Horn said. "The one elephant in the room that we're not talking about, is distracted driving."
Van Horn said that data is hard to quantify.
"The distraction of these computers, it's beyond a phone," council member Scotty Johnson said. "You are responsible, yeah, you are responsible for the guy behind you."
Council talked about the importance of the three E's — enforcement, education and engineering — when it comes to finding solutions to traffic problems.
