Cops: February Statistics Reveal Activity Spike

With 175 summonses written off of 478 traffic stops in January, the might raise a few eyebrows with a stop statistics jumping to 679 in February. But according to Chief Wayne Martini, the percentage of tickets issues actually went down.

“You will notice that the increase in stops has not led to a higher percentage of summonses issued,” Martini said, referring to the 191 summonses issue in February. “The officers are continuing to use appropriate discretion in the issuance of summonses. 37% percent of drivers were cited last month while 29% percent were cited in February.”

The goal of driver education to raise awareness and gain compliance continues in 2012.  “The statistics are up due to a concerted effort by patrols to educate the public on safe driving,” Martini said. “We are seeking to increase compliance in the area of distracted and aggressive driving by identifying and addressing this behavior in order to make motoring safer.”

Outside of the discretionary traffic stops, four DUI suspects were arrested amongst 12 criminal arrests for the shortest month of the calendar year.

“Ultimately, we hope that increasing our presence and enforcement efforts will have a positive effect on reducing the number of motor vehicle accidents,” Martini said.