A radar speed display sign is posted along a road in Wheeling. City police cited 51 drivers on Wednesday during a speed enforcement operation.
WHEELING, W.Va. — The Wheeling Police Department’s “Operation Wolfpack” produced speeding 51 citations in four hours on Wednesday.
Seven officers split time between Bethany Pike in Woodsdale and Market Street in North Wheeling. Those locations were chosen based on frequency of complaints from residents about speeding vehicles.
Lt. Phil Redford said all of those ticketed during the operation were driving at least 11 mph over the limit. A speeding ticket issued by the city results in a $125 fine.
Redford said an officer sat in an unmarked car, using radar to detect speeding vehicles. That officer contacted police cruisers further up the street, who stopped offenders.
“Marked cars slow people down,” Redford said.
Radar speed signs throughout Wheeling inform drivers of how fast they’re traveling – encouraging them to slow down, but they also collect data for the department, which uses it to understand where and when drivers push the limit.
Redford said complaints direct where these signs are placed. They provide the analysis the department needs to understand where its focus is required.
According to Redford, a small percentage of drivers were actually driving the speed limit during yesterday’s operation. The speed limit on Bethany Pike is 35 mph hour, and in North Wheeling, 25 mph.
He said most of the vehicles were traveling between five to eight mph over the speed limit. To ticket in that situation is at an officer’s discretion, but according to Redford there’s a general practice to provide some leeway.
Redford tries to run similar operations once or twice a month in varying locations. He said there are a high number of traffic accidents throughout Wheeling, many speed-related.
He said these enforcement measures are an effort to reduce crashes within the city.
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