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A local dive into the national numbers

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In the early days of the pandemic in 2020, traffic stops by the police plummeted around the country, as fewer cars were on the road and as agencies instructed officers to avoid nonessential contact with the public.

But in the months and years that followed, a distinct pattern formed in many cities: The cars came back in full force, but the traffic enforcement didn’t.

By the end of 2023, the police in Baltimore, New Orleans and San Francisco were making fewer than half the traffic stops they did prepandemic. In other police departments that don’t publicly track stops, like in Seattle and New York, the citations given during stops dropped off, too. The downturn appears even among some state agencies that monitor road safety on highways, like the Texas Highway Patrol and Connecticut State Police.

* Not so in Chicago, however…

Whew.

* According to the data, 202 people were stopped out of every thousand Chicagoans…

One of the story’s authors tweeted that the Chicago Police Department “broke our scale” and has been “behaving unlike just about every other city we show.”

* Likely a ton of pretextual stops because road deaths shot up by more than a third…

* And this is how the Illinois State Police compares to our neighbors…

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 12:39 pm

Comments

This is subjective but I think the pandemic reduction of traffic enforcement emboldened a lot of drivers to become more aggressive and disdainful of road rules, and they haven’t gone back. I see speeding and red light running and drag racing and stunting/loud exhaust demonstrators every day and unless it’s a collision, I never seem to see patrol cars anymore. Their high visibility in the past created a calming effect on drivers. Now it feels like mad max out there with no cop car presence. This is my subjective view out there driving. I never see any enforcement happening. And it makes me feel unsafe.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 12:48 pm
I agree with “give us”. And I’d like to add cars driving without the lights on.

Comment by Jerry Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 12:55 pm
More of a question than a comment, but could the increase in CPD traffic stops be related to the rash of freeway shootings? If the PD sent more officers out to discourage the violence it would seem to make sense they’d pull over more people for speeding, lane usage, and seat belts as they are out there.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:01 pm
===could the increase in CPD traffic stops be related to the rash of freeway shootings?===

That’s ISP.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:04 pm
I’ve noticed traffic stops being way down. I’m sure everyone has.

When I was teaching my now 16 year old to drive. I wondered if he really worried about being pulled over for anything? It seemed like kids were always getting pulled over for any little thing when I turned 16 and now, I wonder if he ever will (outside of being totally stupid).

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:04 pm
===I never see any enforcement happening===

Then you don’t live in a targeted area because obviously gigantic numbers of people are being pulled over in Chicago. 202 per thousand is crazy high.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:05 pm
Traffic stops in the United States are rarely for actual traffic safety.

Many peer European and Asian countries have reduced fatalities by designing roads that discourage speeding and protect pedestrians and cyclists, while deploying cameras more widely.

The U.S. in essence uses the police to make up for not doing those things. And over time, that enforcement has become increasingly inseparable from fighting crime, with many stops serving no road safety outcome.

(emphasis mine)

Comment by Google Is Your Friend Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:16 pm
I actually found that report surprising because I was driving in 2020 (mid summer we got the call back for a bit–until Delta) and in 2021. And I saw incredibly bad driving. Running red lights, running stop signs, speeding, trick riding on the expressways. This was on the expressways but also on north Western Ave, on west Pulaski, on Roosevelt. Of course, most of my transit was morning and evening hours and could be the enforcement is more pronounced late hours.

Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:18 pm
I think the context that people are missing is that the traffic stops that are occurring do not necessarily correlate to the police punishing bad drivers…

Comment by granville Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:29 pm
==I think the context that people are missing is that the traffic stops that are occurring do not necessarily correlate to the police punishing bad drivers…==

DING DING DING

Comment by charles in charge Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:31 pm
I’ve continued to go to the office on and off and I have noticed that most of the extreme bad driving has tapered off. I think that’s because increased traffic just doesn’t allow for it, not because of enforcement (other than cameras, those seem to help a lot with park/school speedlimits and red lights.

Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:34 pm
===the traffic stops that are occurring do not necessarily correlate to the police punishing bad drivers===

Or to safer roads.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 1:50 pm
Every time I get on the Kennedy there are speeders weaving in and out of traffic, whizzing past everyone.
It’s crazy.
And scary.

Comment by TinyDancer(FKASue) Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 2:20 pm
This might be going against the grain, but given that pedestrian and vehicular crash deaths have skyrocketed from poor driver behavior, it is a good thing that traffic enforcement in Chicago is not slumping.

Comment by Incandenza Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 2:21 pm
===it is a good thing that traffic enforcement in Chicago is not slumping===

I mean, did you read the post?

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 2:27 pm
I know, anecdotes are not data. But my favorite neighborhood gas station suffered a “ takeover “ event that put them out of business for two days, when twenty or more local Dodge Charger owners rallied in the station’s parking lot for three hours, revving engines and doing burn- outs, while others shoplifted the store. Springfield cops didn’t respond for hours and the eventual response was to block off the parking lot with concrete barriers, after the fact . The cops seem to have a “ boys will be boys “ attitude about vehicular hooliganism.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 2:30 pm
Reminds me of the time my wife got a warning ticket for speeding in Saint Louis for about 10 miles over–deserved to be sure, but none of us knew anyone else who had gotten such a warning or ticket. There were a lot of people pulled over in Saint Louis, but seldom for dangerous driving.

When you set the standard for being a good officer at arrests instead of for safety, you don’t get public safety–you get juking the stats.

Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 3:24 pm
The worst of drivers I have seen is everywhere and not just Illinois. California, Oregon and Washington are worse.

Comment by FormerParatrooper Tuesday, Jul 30, 24 @ 8:32 pm