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Q&A
NYPD's traffic enforcement trends and strategies
0:26:53
·
3 min
Council Member Yusef Salaam questions the apparent decrease in traffic enforcement since the COVID-19 pandemic. NYPD representatives, including Chief Obe and Josh Levin, provide data and explanations to counter this perception, emphasizing that they are doing 'more with less.'
- NYPD reports no decrease in enforcement, citing increased efficiency and targeted approaches
- Traffic agents are writing more summonses per tour despite having fewer agents
- Specific types of violations, such as those related to Vision Zero and e-bike enforcement, have seen significant increases
Yusef Salaam
0:26:53
So I want to move on to traffic enforcement.
0:26:57
Unfortunately, the data appears to show that NYPD traffic enforcement, a key pillar in ensuring safer streets, decreased significantly during the COVID nineteen pandemic.
0:27:07
In the years prior to the pandemic, the NYPD averaged more than 900,000 summonses for hazardous moving violations.
0:27:16
Last fiscal year, the NYPD issued only 496,000 of such summonses, a slight increase from the prior year but still well below the pre pandemic levels.
0:27:26
How does the NYPD explain the decrease in traffic enforcement that has occurred in recent years and have there been specific changes to the department's policy that have led to this result?
Olufunmilola "Lola" Obe
0:27:40
Okay, so I don't see a decrease.
0:27:43
I just want to touch really quickly on the hard work that our agents and officers do daily.
0:27:47
I can assure you that everyone's plugged in with the three e's I mentioned earlier that we emphasized during traffic safety and again again education and enforcement and engineering.
0:27:57
We work closely with the DOT as part as our primary partner and conduct other operations with multiple agencies when we get to go to our plate operations we'll talk about.
0:28:06
The enforcement is there.
0:28:08
Traffic agents primarily write parking summonses and manage tow operations and our uniform officers write parking and move in violation summonses.
0:28:15
So with traffic agents, currently we have about 2,000 traffic agents citywide.
0:28:20
They write about 8,000,000 summonses, parking summonses per year.
0:28:25
That's approximately about 4,000 summonses per agent per year.
0:28:28
So speaking to pre pandemic numbers, I just want to just touch on the fact that they actually currently at capacity for the number of agents that we have.
0:28:36
So in 2020, for instance, we had a thousand eight fifty three agents.
0:28:40
They wrote seven plus million summonses that amounted to about 18.4 summonses per tour.
0:28:47
2021, again seventeen ninety three agents, they wrote about 22.3 summonses per tour.
0:28:54
2022 less with fifteen thirty three, 20 four 20 four point four summonses per tour.
0:29:00
'20 '3 '13 '70 '9, '20 '6 point '3.
0:29:04
'20 '20 '4 we had thirteen thirty nine agents and they wrote 26.7 summonses per tour.
0:29:10
In 2025, we currently have thirteen thirty seven agents and they wrote about 26.9 summonses per tour.
0:29:16
Now these are just level two these are TEA level twos, not just all of the TEA agents, so I don't see the decrease.
0:29:24
I think that we're actually doing more with less.
0:29:27
I also wanted to mention our officers.
0:29:29
They're also plugged in in terms of the moving moving summonses that they're moving violations that they write.
0:29:35
But, again, when you look at when you look at I mentioned the the results along the five corridors.
0:29:44
Enforcement just total.
0:29:45
Total movers we have 51,000.
0:29:48
I'm sorry.
0:29:49
I'm just gonna total movers are up.
0:29:57
Total vision zero movers are up.
0:30:00
Moving summonses that we are that we're concerned about that actually causes accidents are up.
0:30:05
Speeding summonses, red lights, cell phones, and total vision zero summonses are also up.
Josh Levin
0:30:14
I think it's about more with less.
0:30:15
Right?
0:30:15
The percentages that of their what they're writing is going up as the chief mentioned with less people, And we're also targeting it in specific locations.
0:30:24
Right?
0:30:24
And so for example, the moving summonses for ebike enforcement, 4,558 versus 1,480 over last year.
0:30:32
So that's like a 208% increase.
0:30:34
Right?
0:30:34
So we're targeting it.
0:30:35
So maybe it's a less overall number, but we're being more efficient and putting it in the places in these traffic orders that we've identified.