Arlington police have stopped more vehicles and issued more tickets this year compared to last year, and Chief Al Jones said his department shares council members’ concerns about traffic safety.

“For me, the goal is to make sure that we are visible, that our community sees that we are trying to stop traffic within the city,” Jones said.

Jones’ discussion with council during Tuesday’s meeting came after several sessions on the budget, during which council members highlighted a 54 percent drop in traffic tickets between 2016 and 2023.

Jones said law enforcement agencies nationwide conducted fewer arrests in 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19 and heightened sensitivity to officers’ needs following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“We’re coming out of something we’ve never been a part of before,” Jones said.

District 4 Councilmember Andrew Piel said he respects the work of officers and the unprecedented circumstances that have hit agencies.

“That said, there have been some undeniable statistics regarding citizen concerns about traffic safety in Arlington, as well as fatalities and, what seems to be very surprising, traffic ticketing statistics,” Piel said.

The council members’ concerns are nothing new to Jones, whose department implemented the Safe Roads initiative in March 2023, as the number of fatal crashes threatened to surpass the deadliest year in the city’s history. The initiative included increased traffic enforcement in high-crash areas; outreach to drivers and pedestrians; and road safety education.

According to a report to council members, officers stopped 44,067 people between January 1 and July 31 – 10% more than during the same period in 2023. The number of traffic stops with one or more tickets increased by 18%.

The number of accidents at intersections that resulted in injuries or deaths has decreased, but pedestrian deaths have increased, Jones said. Eight pedestrians have died in Arlington this year, with most of the deaths occurring on or near Cooper Street and Interstate 20, according to a map provided to the Arlington City Council.

Jones said police have a special focus on pedestrian safety as part of their initiative this year.

“We actually go out and try to educate our pedestrians on how to cross the street safely,” he said. “If we could actually get pedestrians out, who account for about 35% of our fatalities in the area, we would be in a better situation.”

Jones said police are increasingly relying on technology to identify areas of the city where more incidents occur.

Keith Brooks, public works director, said his department is looking for ways to improve traffic light technology.

The Arlington City Council Tuesday night approved a $580,485 contract with Transcore ITS, LLC to evaluate and develop recommendations for improving intersection monitoring technology in Arlington.

“If we have intersections where people are running red lights, we can at least let the police know,” Brooks said. “It’s not a red-light camera or anything, but at least it gives them data they can look at.”

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