Milwaukee police traffic citations hit 5 year low in ’22

MILWAUKEE — Final yr marked the fewest citations the Milwaukee Police Division (MPD) issued in at the least the final 5 years, in line with data obtained by the I-Staff.

In complete, MPD wrote 33,105 tickets in 2022 in comparison with 71,402 tickets issued in 2017; a 53.6 p.c lower.

“From a constructive standpoint, we do prefer to consider that we’re making a distinction with a number of the methods we’re doing,” Inspector David Feldmeier stated.

Feldmeier factors to a lower in complete crashes as proof MPD’s technique in direction of reckless driving is working. There was a 12.5 p.c lower in complete crashes from 2021 to 2022, in line with MPD. Nonetheless, there have been 77 visitors deaths final yr in Milwaukee in comparison with 67 in 2021.

Feldmeier says, the explanation for the lower in citations is three fold; MPD has fewer personnel than its had prior to now which ends up in fewer tickets being issued, there was an uptick in violent crime requiring MPD to shift its restricted personnel to these scenes and taking them away from visitors enforcement tasks.

“When we have now bigger violent crime kind scenes taking place in neighborhoods, quite a lot of occasions consideration is diverted,” Feldmeier stated. “These officers must go assist out with these scenes earlier than they will return into service and return to their essential accountability.”

Lastly, a shift in technique in the case of visitors enforcement. Consider it as shifting to police making extra high quality visitors stops as an alternative of the variety of visitors stops.

“We’ve centered on extra of the egregious forms of driving behaviors,” Feldmeier stated. “We’re not simply casting a large web and pulling over something. We’re searching for these people actually inflicting hurt to the neighborhood by means of their reckless driving. Possibly a turning violation or tools violation isn’t one thing essentially an officer goes to make a cease on when there are extra egregious forms of violations taking place.”

“I haven’t heard one individual argue that issues are safer out right here on the road than they had been some time in the past,” Harrison Kern stated.

Kern was an officer for the Milwaukee Police Division from 1980 till 2004. He says since he retired, issues are a lot completely different. Kern says when Milwaukee Police modified its pursuit coverage in 2010 underneath former Chief Ed Flynn, it despatched a message to drivers that they may get away with breaking the regulation.

“We went by means of about seven years within the metropolis the place you had individuals who had gotten to the purpose of pulling up subsequent to law enforcement officials at a cease gentle and daring the police to cease them,” Kern stated. “Then taking off in entrance of them understanding they couldn’t give chase.”

The pursuit coverage was reestablished with modifications in 2017.

“Individuals get accustomed to something that you just enable them to get accustomed to,” Kern stated.

Fond du Lac Avenue is taken into account one of many worst roads for reckless driving within the Metropolis of Milwaukee. It’s among the many worst for lethal crashes, dashing, and different reckless driving behaviors. Kern met the I-Staff on a piece of the roadway to provide his perception on who he would and wouldn’t pull over when he was an officer.

“I don’t assume one automobile goes [the speed limit],” Kern stated.

With a radar gun in hand, automobile after automobile was clocked within the center to excessive 30s. Many, Kern says, he wouldn’t look twice at most of those people.

“They’re most likely somewhat sooner than the pace restrict by a number of miles per hour nevertheless it’s inside the realm of cause,” Kern stated.

One driver glided by at 42 mph in line with the radar gun. Kern says he might have issued that driver a warning.

“You take a look at the pace of the visitors and who’s breaking aside from that,” Kern stated. “You have already got the general public driving barely sooner and he’s going to go previous that nevertheless it’s not that unhealthy.”

However this isn’t any stretch of Fond du Lac Avenue. The part of this highway is within the Sherman Park Neighborhood instantly exterior of Milwaukee Police District 7 the place black and white squad automobiles dot thirty sixth Avenue, intersecting Fond du Lac Avenue.

“This automobile is flying,” Kern stated.

“Wow, 63 mph” Shaun Gallagher, Investigative Reporter stated.

“I informed you,” Kern stated. “That automobile was flying. I might see all of it the way in which down there. Proper in entrance of the entrance door [of District 7]. Consider the place that occurred. He did that proper in entrance of the police station and proper in entrance of the [television] cameras. He had sufficient time to see the digicam. He is aware of he’s in entrance of the 7^th District and he did this proper right here.”

“It’s difficult for each officer,” Feldmeier stated. “I do know we try to do our greatest at contacting as many violators as we will in the case of particular violations like reckless driving and the extreme pace.”

With ticket numbers on the lowest degree in 5 years and aggressive driving taking place proper exterior of a police district, Feldmeier stands behind the present visitors technique.

“It’s indicative of the enforcement we’re doing primarily based on the personnel we have now,” Feldmeier stated. “The main focus that we have now so far as the kind of violations we’re stopping on high of attempting to stability that with the entire different tasks we have now in retaining this metropolis protected.”

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