GREEN BAY, Wis — Green Bay Police say the number one complaint they hear about involves traffic violations. And in an effort to change that, in January police issued 100 percent more driving citations than they did last January. The initiative known as Slow Down Green Bay, just began in January and tonight we’re learning more about what the public and police have to say about the stepped up enforcement.
In January of 2019, 541 traffic citations were issued in Green Bay. But fast forward to January of 2020, and that number jumped to 1,142 tickets issued which is over a 100 percent increase.
"Wow, that's a lot. I mean why? How did it increase like that?" Quintella Williams of Green Bay says she has never gotten a speeding ticket. She also can’t wrap her head around the fact that Green Bay Police have stepped up their enforcement efforts that much in just one year.
And all too many others also question aspects, of the increase in tickets issued too.
"Has the number of people who are speeding gone up really 100 percent? I don't think so," says Yuri Burrows of Green Bay. Burrows says he has some gripes with the way some people drive in Green Bay but seriously questions why so many additional tickets were issued this January.
To get the answers NBC26 went to the Green Bay Police department. It was there that Lt. Brad Strouf told us that the number one complaint from citizens across town is related to bad driving.
"Distracted driving behaviors, speeding violations, traffic signal violations," says Lt. Strouf.
Starting in January of 2020, Lt. Strouf says the Green Bay Police doubled the number of officers dedicated strictly to traffic enforcement. He says that the Chief of the Green Bay Police department also requested that all officers on duty, start to focus more on bad driving behaviors.
"There were certainly a number of violations that the officers didn't have to look hard to find…. We're not trying to trick people into doing something, we're not trying to hide and catch people doing something. We want them to be compliant. We want them to be safe drivers," says Lt. Strouf.
But with such a drastic increase of tickets issued for driving violations, some are starting to question if the department is focusing too much of their efforts, on traffic.
"I would say that they need to focus on fighting crime. They need to focus on drugs that are coming into the Green Bay community," says Burrows.
The Slow Down Green Bay initiative will last throughout 2020 and police say it's not out of the question to push the initiative, into 2021.
For more information about how you can inform police about traffic concerns in your neighborhood check out this link provided by the Green Bay Police Department.
You can also call the Green Bay Police to report traffic concerns at 920-448-3212.
