Traffic enforcement strategies

Speeding is a leading cause of crashes and is the number one complaint the BPD Traffic Unit receives. According to a US Department of Justice (DOJ) study, drivers make calculated decisions to speed. Police have the means to alter these calculations.

While visible enforcement is valuable, the DOJ also recommends that drivers should not be able to easily detect when and where speed enforcement is occurring.  For this reason, regular patrol officers do enforce traffic laws using their highly visible black-and-whites, but the Traffic Unit uses less conspicuous cruisers. We are trying to alter the decision that drivers make when they decide to speed.

For our new traffic cruisers we obtained Dodge Chargers, since they look different from all the Fords in our cruiser fleet.  They are distinctively marked as police cars and have flashing lights on their roofs, so they comply with Ohio law for a traffic enforcement car, but they are different from our black-and-white fleet and should help us in accomplishing our goals.

By the way, the DOJ study specifies the following responses to speeding as having limited effectiveness: reducing speed limits, increasing fines, erecting stop signs, and installing speed bumps.

Distracted driving, from using cell phones, especially texting, while driving, is becoming a major concern to traffic safety experts. Please view a video about the dangers here. Warning: this video contains disturbing content and is not for younger children. Drivers are reminded that Brunswick City Ordinance 432.34 states, “No person shall operate a vehicle without giving his full time and attention to the operation of such vehicle.”

Interstate 71 is identified by the Scripps Howard study as being the deadliest road in Medina County. It travels through our city and our police and fire divisions respond to crashes on the Brunswick section. For this reason, the Traffic Unit enforces traffic violations on the interstate. We work together with the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSP) in Operation TRIAD (Targeting Reckless, Intimidating and Aggressive Drivers), which uses OSP aircraft to observe violations from the air and radio cruisers on the ground.

Drunk driving has had a devastating effect on our community. The most obvious example occurred in 2007 when a Brunswick family’s minivan was struck by an intoxicated driver and a young girl was killed. A year later the Medina County OVI Task Force was created in an effort to get all county law enforcement agencies to cooperate in attacking this problem, and it has been very successful. On target nights, officers from several departments work in one specific area and saturate the area to target drunk drivers.

We also assist the Highway Patrol in sobriety checkpoints in which all drivers on a particular road are briefly stopped and checked for evidence of intoxication.

We use our cable channels and websites in an effort to educate drivers about the dangers of drunk drivers. Additionally, the BPD has officers that work in the local schools and educate the younger population.

A view of North Carpenter Road and Interstate 71 from OSP plane.