CINCINNATI – Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Cincinnati Police Department will be concentrating their efforts in the Cincinnati metro area starting tomorrow through Dec. 1, in an ongoing initiative to reduce fatal and injury crashes in urban areas, while also apprehending wanted felons and interdicting drugs and weapons.

The Patrol is working with the Cincinnati Police Department for the second time after a highly successful initiative last year which resulted in 35 fewer fatal and injury crashes and a 26 percent reduction in alcohol-related serious crashes on Cincinnati interstates when compared to a three-year average. In addition to traffic safety, the metro initiatives have resulted in 6 felony cases that have included illegal narcotics and fictitious plated vehicles, such as one stop where the a Patrol airplane clocked a motorcycle traveling 92 in a 65. After troopers apprehended the suspect they found 19 grams of cocaine and other drug paraphernalia.

The ongoing Cincinnati Metropolitan Area Initiative (CMAI) uses a combination of high-visibility enforcement, multi-agency OVI deterrence, specialized computer mapping, and a strategic public information campaign to promote traffic safety on Ohio roads. A similar and highly successful initiative was implemented in the Cleveland metro area earlier this year.

“Traffic crash fatalities in urban areas have increased this year across Ohio,” Colonel Richard H. Collins, Patrol superintendent said. “In the past, these metro enforcement initiatives with local law enforcement have demonstrated that concentrated enforcement efforts on metro interstates can produce meaningful declines in fatal and injury crashes.”

Last year Hamilton County had the third most fatal crashes among all Ohio Counties, killing 62 motorists. Over the last four years, Hamilton County has had nearly 145,000 traffic crashes. One in five of these crashes have involved an injury or death, an average of one injury or fatal crash every 72 minutes. There have been 238 fatal crashes resulting in 259 deaths in the past four years on Hamilton County roadways.

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Note to editors: To coordinate a ride-along, contact the Public Affairs Unit at 614-752-2792.

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