‘Zero Tolerance': Casper Police Target Crash-Prone Intersection
Don't be surprised if you see an increased police presence around the intersection of CY and Poplar in Casper. As a matter of fact, the Casper Police Department wants you to know they're there, and watching closely.
It's all part of the department's Data Driven Approached To Crime And Traffic Safety (DDACTS) program, aimed at making Casper a safer place to live and drive by reducing traffic crashes in the community, according to a release.
Sgt. Jeff Bullard said it's primarily focused on areas experiencing traffic problems, specifically a high volume of crashes. The department looked at both state and local data for crashes as well as incidences of violent crime. "We overlap the 'hot spots' on the map, and in this case, we've identified CY and Poplar as literally being the 'X' on the map," said Bullard. "In the last three years we've had 56 crashes at that intersection and more than half of those were injury crashes."
A high visibility enforcement at that intersection began December 26th, and will last over the next several months with a number of officers focusing on that area. "You're going to see new signage, you're going to see a lot of officers, you're going to see a lot of red and blue lights in that area," said Bullard, who points out that Zero Tolerance is part of the DDACTS program. "Zero Tolerance is, if we see you committing a violation, you will be getting a ticket," he said, "and that includes speeding, not obeying the signals, seat belt violations, child seats, anything we see, you're going to be getting a ticket for."
Bullard says some of the factors at the CY and Poplar intersection include drivers following too closely, people not understanding the double turn lane with flashing yellow arrows, drivers crossing into the wrong lane, the high traffic volume, and less experienced drivers from Natrona County High School.
"When you look at the time of day where most of the crashes happen, they occur Monday through Thursday right around 3:00pm, between 3:00pm and 4:00pm so when school is getting out at NC, so you can make another inference there as well."
Part of the DDACTS program will include public education through media, social media, and instructional videos.