'Stop The Burr Ridge Speedway,' Official Urges Police

BURR RIDGE, IL – If Burr Ridge police pull you over, there's a better chance that you'll get a ticket than in other towns.

But the number of traffic citations plunged in 2025.

According to the police department's data, local officers stopped drivers 2,667 times last year, a significant drop from the previous year's 3,841.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Trustee Russell Smith expressed concern.

"We need to stop the Burr Ridge Speedway," he said. "It's great that we pull people over, but I don't think the message is going to get through until tickets are issued."

Police Chief Marc Loftus blamed the drop in traffic enforcement on an officer shortage.

"Focusing on more hazardous moving violations is a priority for us," the chief said.

Data over the last decade show that 2025 was an exception. Most years, the police department makes more than 3,000 stops a year.

In 2024, the last year for which statewide data is available, Burr Ridge officers issued tickets during a third of stops. Of six other nearby towns surveyed, only Hinsdale had a higher rate, at 34 percent.

By comparison, La Grange was at 21 percent, Darien at 26 percent, Western Springs at 27 percent, Elmhurst at 29 percent and Clarendon Hills at 31 percent.

A few years ago, a La Grange trustee urged his village's police department to write traffic tickets and "light these people up" to help protect pedestrians. Stops increased after that.