Wheeling Police Cite 24 in Targeted Enforcement Operation
WHEELING -- In an effort to decrease traffic crashes, the Wheeling Police Department is conducting more "Wolfe Pack" operations across the city.
The latest focused traffic enforcement effort took place Thursday between the 600 and 800 blocks of National Road, said Wheeling Police Department Lt. Josh Sanders.
He said officers pulled over 25 motorists during a four-hour period, with 24 tickets written for violations. Of those 24 violations, five were for red lights; two for stop signs; one for passing a stopped school bus; one for a center lane violation; 13 for cell phone use; and two for secondary insurance violations.
"West Virginia is a hands-free state. Holding a phone, having a conversation, texting, talking. If we see that, we give tickets out for that," Sanders said on Friday.
Sanders said officers decided to focus on that stretch of National Road, between Fulton and Woodsdale, because there have been too many crashes lately. People drive too aggressively there, he added.
"When you have 12 crashes in one month in one neighborhood, that's not good," he said of the stretch of National Road. "In the last two weeks there have been 14 crashes on Interstate 70. You can probably guess where we are targeting next," he said.
Sanders said once some of the orange traffic barrels were removed from some sections of I-70 people started to drive too fast again.
He noted the extra traffic enforcement is not about creating revenue for the city, but keeping people safe.
"We're writing tickets to correct behavior and protect drivers," he said.
Sanders said the department's command staff has a meeting about every other week to discuss areas of concern including neighborhoods that need additional traffic enforcement. He noted the five-mile stretch of I-70 within the department's district is "particularly dangerous."
"There are double-digit crashes every month," he said.
"Our mission here is to make sure people can drive safely on the streets and highways. What better way to impact habits than to put cops out and pull people over for traffic violations. ... We have zero tolerance in heavy crash areas," he said.
The department's slogan for reminding people to heed traffic rules is "slow down, back off and hang up."
Sanders said during past efforts the department did notice an improvement. After doubling past traffic enforcement efforts, he said, the department noticed a 10 percent reduction in crashes.
"We've done several of these before. ... We have several more planned," he said of the Wolfe Pack operations.
Sanders said the department has been posting traffic rule videos by various officers on its Facebook page. He noted there is one dedicated to how to properly use a center lane, too.