Oak Park police greatly increased the number of traffic stops they made last year.
The department nearly doubled the amount of traffic stops it made in 2024 compared to 2023, making 5,167 stops last year compared to 2,604 the year before, according to figures included in the department’s annual report shared earlier this month. OPPD had only made more than 4,000 stops once in the previous four years, according to the report.
Police Chief Shatonya Johnson shared the report with village leaders at July 22’s village board meeting. The department “increased targeted traffic enforcement to improve roadway safety and ensure safe mobility for all road users,” according to the report.
The increase in traffic enforcement occurred even after the department’s sworn officer numbers began to dwindle. OPPD had 86 officers on staff in 2024, more than 20 less than the department had on staff in 2020 when it made 3,467 stops and 17 less than it had in 2022 when it made only 3,065 stops, according to the report.
Trustee Cory Wesley said he often hears from residents who feel that OPPD isn’t doing enough to crackdown on reckless drivers and that these figures will give him something to point to in those conversations.
“I call that out is because traffic safety is probably one of the number one things I hear from people in the village,” he said. “The first thing I always hear from them is we need to do more enforcement and I always tell them that we do a lot of enforcement and these numbers show that we are doing a lot of enforcement.”
During the coronavirus pandemic and the years that followed, traffic enforcement dwindled nationwide. A New York Times investigation found that traffic citations decreased sharply while road deaths surged in many major American cities during those years.
Wesley said he’s seen the quality of driving in and around Oak Park deteriorate since the pandemic and that OPPD needs to continue doing its part.
“This shows the degree of the issue over the pandemic and how people’s driving patterns have just eroded and how we’ve ended up with people driving on the shoulders on the expressway every day,” he said. “I know several parents, unfortunately, who were seriously injured dropping their kids off or picking their kids up from school. This is an issue that is definitely very close to me and close to the community that I hear from and I really appreciate you all putting in the work to help keep us safe in that regard.”