Brown Deer Police Evaluate Traffic Enforcement after Series of Fatalities
Village of Brown Deer police are adjusting enforcement strategies after a number of deadly crashes on their roads.
The latest fatality happened Saturday night at the intersection of Brown Deer Road and North 60th Street were police say an impaired driver ran a red light and slammed into another vehicle.
On Monday morning police actually set-up at that spot to watch the intersection. Brown Deer Police Department Public Information Officer Brad Caddock said the lookout was part of new enforcement measures focused on looking for reckless driving behaviors.
"It's difficult to predict. We are looking at when these incidents happened. We're trying to focus and just bringing awareness to improve driving behavior," Caddock said.
The department started the new crash prevention strategies last year - before these recent road deaths. It goes back to 2015 when they noticed a year-to-year increase for bad wrecks.
Caddock said the main part of their plan is being visible in busy areas and keeping drivers alert because of their presence.
"I think we identified a bunch of key driving behaviors that contribute to accidents and based on those behaviors we're trying to get out and do this focused traffic enforcement," Caddock said.
"Drivers need to be aware, as always when they're driving, to take that extra moment when you're approaching a stoplight to make sure nobody is crossing - whether you have the green light or the red light," Caddock said.
"Having so many [fatalities] occur in such a short span of time in the village of Brown Deer takes a toll on everybody," Caddock said.
And in the most recent fatality, charges for the accused impaired driver are being referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office on Tuesday.