MPD Announces 14% Traffic Crash Reduction In 2009

Milwaukee Police Department
Office of Media and Communications

Jan. 29 - While Milwaukee Police have increased traffic stops by 124 percent, traffic crashes in Milwaukee have decreased by more than 1,700.

“It is significant that our officers have significantly increased the contacts they have with motorists,” Milwaukee Police Chief Edward A. Flynn said. “The officers are stopping cars and using warnings and citations to educate drivers and change dangerous behavior.”

Milwaukee police officers made more than 140,000 traffic stops in 2009, up from 62,000 stops in 2008. Over the same time period Milwaukee has seen a 14 percent reduction in traffic crashes.

The city streets also are becoming safer for pedestrians, as the city has experienced a reduction in pedestrian fatalities over the past three years. Five pedestrians were killed in 2009, a 50 percent reduction from the 10 people killed in 2008. In 2007 there were 17 pedestrians killed in Milwaukee.

The data shows a slight decrease in total traffic fatalities since 2007, but the number has held at 31 over the past two years. Excessive speed, impairment by drugs and alcohol, and lack of seatbelt use continue to be major contributing factors to serious injury and fatal crashes in Milwaukee.

Drunken driving enforcement remains important to the Milwaukee Police Department, and arrests of impaired drivers have increased by 16% since 2007. MPD took more than 1,100 drunk drivers off city streets in 2009.

The Milwaukee Police Department continues to partner with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to reduce crashes with education and enforcement grants. In 2010 the MPD will use $50,000 in grant money from the Department of Transportation to arrest drunken drivers and reduce alcohol-related crashes. The Milwaukee Police Department has also received grant money to enforce speed laws, as well as funds to increase pedestrian and bicycle safety in Milwaukee.