KEARNEY — The Kearney Police Department enjoys a great partnership with the Nebraska Department of Transportation – Office of Highway Safety, regularly participating in State and National traffic enforcement campaigns designed to increase safety of its motoring public in an effort to reduce roadway injuries and deaths.
Recently, in an effort to expand this partnership and enhance roadway safety in Kearney, KPD and has been awarded funding assistance for selective enforcement and education with an emphasis on occupant protection, impaired driving, speed, distracted driving, and general traffic.
The goal of this increased saturation patrol and enforcement is to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes in Kearney and Nebraska. Special Traffic Enforcement Program, (S.T.E.P.) Enforcement funds will be authorized from the beginning of October 2024 to the end of September 2025 in an effort to reach those goals. The grant funding for this project is $35,000 which will be used toward multiple enforcement efforts, national traffic safety campaigns, and unique enforcement operations based on local statistics, problem areas, or areas reported by our community.
With this funding, the Kearney Police Department has formed a part time, Selective Traffic Unit, comprised of officers who will work assignments in addition to their primary assignment, focused solely on traffic enforcement matters and local traffic concerns.
“As a growing city, we continue to experience an increase in traffic volume and at some major intersections, an increase in traffic crashes. As an organization, we embrace partnerships with our Public Works Street Department and with NDOT Office of Highway Safety toward traffic safety.
At times, we must address these issues through enhanced enforcement operations in an effort to change driving behavior and increase roadway safety. This grant will allow officers to focus solely on traffic enforcement, not tied to radio calls for service. As you can see, the first operation resulted in a high volume of traffic stops, there are more to come. This is your notice Kearney, slow down, stop, yield, put the phone down, wear that seat belt, and drive safe!
We appreciate the assistance from NDOT Office of Highway Safety and plan to enhance this funding next year.” – Chief Bryan D Waugh.
The first area S.T.E.P. Operations were held on Tuesday, October 15th and Thursday, October 17th, 2024, focused on three primary areas based on recent community concerns:
We provide services, solutions, and opportunities for our community.
- 1. Avenue E (39th Street to 56th Street)
- 2. West 35th Street (Country Club Lane to 30th Avenue)
- 3. West 11th Street (5th Avenue to 30th Avenue)
During this selective enforcement campaign 8 officers worked an additional 21 hours of traffic enforcement, with a total of 80 traffic contacts during the two day enforcement period. Kearney Police Department’s participation in this campaign is funded through a grant from the Nebraska Department of Transportation – Office of Highway Safety.
