MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee police say they're going to be targeting reckless drivers through the holiday season by using OWI grant money to support the initiative.
As people in Milwaukee start to get in the holiday spirit, police want them to know the department's efforts to combat reckless driving will only be ramping up.
"You will see the increased enforcement during the season that you're going to see people consuming alcohol," said Chief Alfonso Morales. "The drugs are an issue, we have several people that we're pulling over that are driving under the influence of marijuana."
For the past two years, reckless driving initiatives in Milwaukee took place during the summer months. Alderman Michael Murphy chairs the county's Reckless Driving Task Force. He said recent tragedies call for increased patrols with a shift in grant money as we head into winter.
"We lost two children recently, I mean two little beautiful girls, two sisters 4 and 6, a 68-year-old man, I think this is a right reallocation of resources to focus on this issue," Murphy said.
So far this year, 44 people have died in crashes in Milwaukee. Milwaukee police said 8 were caused by hit-and-run drivers.
Mayor Tom Barrett said he supports the initiative in targeting notorious thorough-fairs for reckless driving such as Capitol Drive and Center Street.
"I'm hoping you'll see more hours, I don't know if it's going to be more cops per se, it's going to certainly be more hours out there," Barrett explained.
Chief Morales said a large number of reckless drivers are found to be under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. Lavonte Davis said he sees the issue on our streets every day.
"It's devastating, man, it's criminals out here," he said.
Milwaukee police wouldn't share how much the OWI grant provides to the city.
