A data review of police departments statewide shows that the Ridgefield Police Department is far more likely to pull drivers over than police in most towns, officer to officer.
Ridgefield police stopped about 184 drivers per officer in the past year, according to a survey by the news website Connecticut Mirror. It is topped only by neighboring Newtown, which had 204 vehicle stops per officer.
But Newtown and Ridgefield are individual departments in relatively small towns, with populations of around 25,000 and police staff of around 40, according to the Mirror.
“A patrol officer is constantly looking for traffic violations as well as criminal activity while on patrol,” Capt. Jeffery Kreitz, spokesman for the Ridgefield police, told The Press.
Kreitz said the local chief sends out a survey at random to residents every year asking for their feedback on what issues are of their greatest concern.
At the top of the list is always traffic enforcement, which includes speeding and distracted driving.
“The Ridgefield Police Department takes an aggressive stance on motor vehicle violations, with the goal of increasing roadway safety and educating the public. The Ridgefield Police Department participates in grant programs regularly, which allows us to assign officers to specific details to focus on speeding and distracted driving,” Kreitz said.
By contrast, Hartford has the second greatest number of sworn officers, at 478, but has stopped only 8,254 drivers. That’s 17 stops per cop — about one-tenth the number per worker for Newtown and Ridgefield, the Mirror reported.
The most common day to get pulled over in Ridgefield is Friday, according to the data study. The most common reasons to be pulled over in town are speeding and talking on a cell phone.
Ridgefield gives 184.15 tickets per officer, the second most in Connecticut among police departments. The state police ticket more, though, at 213.79 tickets per officer. The busiest ticket day for the state police is Saturday, and the tickets are for speeding.
The data is from October 2013 to September 2014. The data is reported by the state Office of Policy and Management.
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