Wisconsin State Troopers Use Aerial Traffic Enforcement

All across Wisconsin the Department of Transportation is monitoring your speed and you might not even be aware until you get a ticket.

Officials said this isn't about tricking drivers or writing speeding tickets.

They said part of the reason they would do an interview with us is so people are more aware they are being watched-and make an effort to drive better so they don't get stopped.

Wisconsin State Trooper Bill Lindeman said barring bad weather one of three DOT planes is up in the air at least once a week. 

“Were looking for speed of course, another thing is following too closely and aggressive driving. We tend to work the aircraft stuff in areas where it’s hard to work on the ground,” said Bill Lindeman.

In our area, the planes are usually used in Kenosha, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, Walworth and Waukesha counties.

There are white marks every 660 feet on the pavement to help calculate speed.

Each time a driver passes one the pilot hits a switch on the computer.

“We know the distance and just a simple calculation on the computer, time and distance and we get a speed,” said Lindeman.

The pilot then radios down to one of about 4 troopers on standby and tells them who to stop.

“You can pick out a car that is really moving. That is really easy to see. A trooper on the ground if he is not focused on the ground he might miss that car,” said Lindeman.

It is paid for by a federal grant and even with the cost of gas.

Unofficial data from the pilots and troopers shows the revenue generated more than pays for the operation" 

In 2015, there were 71 traffic enforcement ops held statewide-with 1867 citations written.

The majority of citations are for speeding.

Wisconsin's DOT has been conducting aerial traffic enforcement since 1958.