Traffic tickets are up 42% in Rockford this year; police expect those numbers to continue to rise

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Consider this a warning if your foot is heavy on the gas pedal: Rockford police have issued hundreds more tickets so far this year and they expect those numbers to continue to rise with the rollout of more moving radar systems.

The city is installing moving radar systems at the front and rear of all of its squad cars. The devices, which allow cops to clock your speed while they’re driving on patrol rather than stationary with a radar gun, previously were only in traffic enforcement patrol squads, Police Chief Carla Redd said.

Rockford police have issued 42% more tickets through July this year compared to the same time frame a year ago. Redd expects the new devices should increase those numbers even more.

The city contracted with Dana Safety Supply for $486,150 for the purchase and installation of 37 moving radar systems. The installation began late last month.

The new systems are coming as the city has issued roughly 2,000 more tickets so far this year compared to last year. There have been more than 6,900 traffic citations written through July this year.

Traffic stops and citations had fallen both in Rockford and around the country after the coronavirus pandemic, and the city has put an emphasis this year on increasing its stops in an attempt to reduce traffic crashes, Mayor Tom McNamara said.

“Our police department is doing a great job increasing the numbers, but we’re still below where we were prepandemic,” McNamara said. “I think anyone who’s driving our roads understands there’s far too much lawlessness. If that is from ATVs, if that is from people driving 60 in a 40, or 45 in a neighborhood — we need to make sure that our citizens are safe and that will always be my utmost concern.”

Tickets by month

Source: Rockford Police Department

Critics of traffic stops often point to research that shows Black drivers are more likely to be stopped than white drivers relative to their representation of the population. The state’s 2023 annual traffic stop analysis, for example, again showed Black drivers were stopped at a higher rate than white drivers in 95% of large police agencies in Illinois.

They also argue that minor traffic stops too often escalate into violent or deadly encounters with police.

Others have decried traffic tickets as a way for governments to boost their funding through fines or fees.

Police agencies around the country have pointed to data that shows traffic fatalities increased after the pandemic as citations decreased as evidence for the need for enforcement.

In Rockford, police say the goal is to get drivers to slow down in order to prevent traffic crashes and fatal collisions.

“We’re out there to monitor the speed to reduce traffic crashes. A majority of our traffic crashes are speed related,” Traffic investigator Robert Trout said. “We’re not stopping people for 5, 6 miles per hour over. We’re stopping people for 15, 20 and higher speeds.”

Rockford resident Ernie Redfern said he’s glad to see police stepping up their enforcement.

“Bad drivers are not born they’re created,” he said. “They’re created when there’s no enforcement and no education.”

Redfern, an Army veteran and co-chairperson of the Friends of Veterans Memorial Circle, has been outspoken for years on the need to make the Auburn and Main streets roundabout safer.

Earlier this year, the city reduced the roundabout from two lanes of traffic to one. Redfern said addressing the infrastructure is just one step, the city also needs to better traffic enforcement to make the roads safer for motorists and pedestrians.

“All of us should be able to walk across public crosswalks without fearing for our lives,” he said.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas