Baltimore Police began a new traffic enforcement initiative Friday that will run through mid-August as part of an effort to reduce accidents and fatalities across the city.
The initiative is focused on areas where the department has seen the highest concentration of accidents resulting in injuries and fatalities over the last three years, according to a news release.
Reprioritization of traffic stops for police officers comes after Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley and Mayor Brandon Scott made remarks in mid-March about motorists violating traffic laws. Scott also attributed the renewed effort to the decrease in homicides in Baltimore.
In an updated statement, Worley said: “I am very concerned by the increase in motorists violating traffic laws and parking illegally, serious vehicle crashes and road rage incidents. These actions jeopardize public safety for everyone who uses the roadways.”
“If you are going to drive on city streets,” he added, “you need to obey the rules of the road.”
Officers will issue citations at the following locations to drivers who commit traffic violations in two to three locations in each of Baltimore’s nine police districts, now through Aug. 16. Sobriety checkpoints will also be carried out with the assistance of partner agencies, according to a news release.
The following are the locations where the traffic enforcement will be in effect, by district:
Central District
400 Ensor at Orleans Street
200 Light St.
100 E. Lombard S.
Southeast District
3100 E. Biddle St.
200 N. Patterson Park
5700 Pulaski Highway
Eastern District
3500 Belair Road
1200 E. North Ave.
1900 Belair Road
Northeast District
3400 The Alameda
5800 Belair Road
Northern District
3500 Reisterstown Road
300 E. Coldspring Lane
Northwest District
5100-5200 Reisterstown Road
3500 Hillsdale Road
3100 W. North Ave.
Western District
2000 W. Franklin
500-600 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Unit S. Monroe Street
Southwest District
1800 W. Pratt St.
3400 W. Caton Ave.
400 S. Monroe St.
Southern District
1100 S. Monroe St.
3900 Curtis Ave.
600 W. Patapsco Ave.
A Baltimore Banner analysis found fatal pedestrian accidents rose 9% in Maryland but dropped slightly in Baltimore in 2023. Data showed the city’s slight decline, from 150.62 per 100,000 residents to 150.28, “remains well below pre-pandemic levels,” The Banner previously reported.
In addition to citations and sobriety checkpoints, BPD said it will take a “holistic approach” to reduce traffic violations through district- and citywide unit deployments. Neighborhood coordination officers will also assess environmental issues leading to traffic crashes and fatalities and “will partner with city agencies to improve safety at the relevant locations,” the department added.
When asked about concerns about overpolicing, BPD did not provide specifics but reiterated the department will be “focused on areas where we have seen the highest concentration of fatal accidents and accidents with injury over the last three years.”
This story has been updated to correct a quote from the BPD news release.
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Penelope Blackwell is a Breaking News reporter with The Banner. Previously, she covered local government in Durham, NC, for The News & Observer. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Morgan State University and her master’s in journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
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