WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Western Springs police officers gave about 300 traffic tickets last year, far fewer than what they issued before the pandemic, a state database shows.
In the five pre-pandemic years, the number of tickets ranged from 455 to 754. In 2012 and 2014, local officers wrote more than 1,200 citations.
But the number fell a lot in the 2020s, to a low of 129 in 2022, about one every three days, according to the village’s reports to the state.
In 2020 and 2023, police reported about 1,400 traffic stops. But in most years over the last decade, the number of stops has generally ranged from 2,200 to 2,700 a year.
As for traffic tickets, neighboring La Grange has seen a similar decline over the years.
Earlier this month, the village of Western Springs told Patch it had made 1,715 traffic stops and issued 390 citations year to date. That means sizable increases in both categories from 2023.
“While this is an important aspect of policing, it is only one of many ways that the (police department) works to keep the community safe,” the village’s spokeswoman, Selmin Cicek, said in an email.
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Here are other things that Cicek said the police department has done recently:
Source: Illinois Department of Transportation Traffic Stop Statistical Studies
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