Labor Day to many means the last hurrah of summer. To Kane-based state police, this past Labor Day weekend meant increased enforcement efforts to make sure the holiday was a safe one.
“It was a good holiday weekend,” station commander Sgt. Ryan Nuhfer told The Era. “We wrote a total of 247 citations. We made five DUI arrests, four of which were on-view and one was a crash.”
On-view DUI arrests means “we stopped them before they crashed,” he explained.
The DUI crash was related to driving under the influence of drugs, not alcohol, Nuhfer said.
“Out of those 247 citations, 102 were for speed, one was for a child passenger seat, four were adult seatbelt violations and 20 were warnings for safety belt violations.”
Overall, “our crash numbers were very low,” Nuhfer said, “four total with one injury.”
The number of crashes has been dropping within the station’s coverage area. Nuhfer explained, “Our year-to-date totals, compared to 2016 total accidents, are down 13.3 percent. Our injuries as a result are down 12 percent.
“Last year, year-to-date, we had six total fatal crashes. This year we had two,” he said. “Criminal arrests are significantly higher.”
What has brought about the improved numbers, and safer roads?
“I don’t know that we’re doing anything differently,” the station commander said.
The state police have a new commissioner, Col. Tyree Blocker. And Nuhfer explained that the commissioner is “trying to keep the smaller stations scheduled fully” with manpower.
It’s made a noticeable difference.
“The number of incidents are only up half a percent,” the sergeant said. “Before, if we were spread thin, we were only handling incidents — being reactive.”
Having a full roster helps troopers be proactive.
“That’s probably key,” Nuhfer said. “Having an extra trooper or two on the road frees us up to be a little more proactive. A lot of our members here have specialized training, to be able to give them the tools they need to be better police officers.”
Nuhfer added that he’s impressed by the improving numbers.
“It’s a matter of being out there, being visible and targeting the high-crash areas,” he said. “Everybody sees us out there and slows down.”
