MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Police Department's Traffic Safety Unit (TSU) is encouraging residents to report reckless driving, so the owner's of the vehicle will receive a warning letter in the mail.
The TSU started the program earlier this year and has sent out 418 warning letters to date.
"It's letting them know that their vehicle was observed driving recklessly," Capt. Jeffrey Sunn said. "And, if they were stopped by the police department, their fine would [cost] this much and would have this many [driver's license] points. These are the statutes that would have been violated."
Sunn says the department got the idea from a community group. Someone in that group formerly sent warning letters to nuisance property owners to help renters fall in line. Sunn is hopeful this tactic will have an impact on reckless drivers.
"It's an angle to curb reckless driving," Sunn said. "We're trying everything we can."
If someone catches someone driving recklessly, the TSU website has a form to fill out online. It asks for the location where the reckless driving occurred and for a description of what happened. They are asking people to provide a detailed explanation of the vehicle including the license plate number. Then, the department will send out a warning letter to the vehicle owner, which may not necessarily be the driver.
"The owner of the car might not be the one driving the car," Sunn said. "It might be a younger kid that has their parents' car and he or she is out here operating in a bad behavior. If 10 of them get to parents and they tell their kids they can't use the car anymore, maybe that's 10 less reckless drivers we probably don't have on the street."
If you want to report reckless driving you see, you can do so on the Traffic Safety Unit website.
