Indianapolis law enforcement to increase traffic patrols without ticketing
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Expect to see more traffic enforcement by Indianapolis police and Indiana State Police throughout the city – police say they’re taking action after seeing a recent increase in cases of dangerous driving.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, they have seen many cases this year involving vehicles. This includes 274 crashes with pedestrians, 84 crashes with cyclists, and around 40 deadly crashes overall.
IMPD Sgt. Javed Richards said, “We’ve seen a lot of fatalities. We’ve seen a lot of families being hurt because of traffic incidents. So before you think, ‘Hey, this does not apply to me,’ think about the repercussions of a traffic accident and what may happen if you’re involved.”
To help lower these numbers, starting Monday, police will be increasing traffic enforcement across the city. They say their focus is to curb dangerous driving, not writing tickets.
Richards said, “Obviously, we know what tickets are or what enforcement does help with correcting behavior, but also speaking to someone, giving them a warning, educating them more, you know, one-on-one conversation, that’s another way of actually correcting behavior.”
For IMPD Officer Jacob Liebhauser, there’s a lot of work ahead to curb reckless driving. “Just drive by the way the law says. That way, if everybody is on the same page, we can keep everybody safe,” he said.
News 8 joined Liebhauser for a ride-along on Monday afternoon to see what officers were keeping eyes out for. During the ride-along, a driver was pulled over for running a red light.
Liebhauser explained the process of running the car’s plate to learn more about the vehicle and driver. “So, what I’m doing here is just making sure there aren’t any warrants on the car or on the driver. She does not, so I’ll just give her a warning, and let her know about the light, and we’ll be done,” he said.
Richards added this as advice to drivers, “Slow down, put down the phone, be less distracted, and one of the ways to do that is to slow down, pay attention to what is going on around you, pedestrians, traffic signal, other drivers, and that will help.”
Overall, IMPD says this is another step they’re taking to make sure that community members stay safe especially, while out on the road.