Mount Prospect police pass out 240 speeding tickets in one week

If you were driving on a major Mount Prospect street last week and didn't get stopped by the police, chances are pretty good you weren't speeding.

That's because police there issued 240 speeding tickets between Aug. 10 and 16. Police focused on the village's main drags like Euclid Avenue, Northwest Highway and Central Road, and each ticket cost the driver between about $75 and $100, said Mount Prospect Police Officer Greg Sill.

Those ticketed were going an average of 17 mph over the posted speed limit, Sill said.

The police department didn't get a special grant and officers weren't paid overtime to conduct the "speed week." Mount Prospect police are just big believers in cracking down on speeders, he said.

"We do get approached by Mount Prospect citizens who think we should have better things to do than this," Sill said. "But this is part of the most essential part of our job. Catching speeders lowers the accident rate and many times (we) find someone who could have done a lot more damage than speeding."

For example, one driver last week was pulled over for driving 73 mph in a 30 mph zone at about 6 p.m. on Aug. 13 at Northwest Highway and Maple Street. The driver was also charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana, Sill said.

"Here's someone who was speeding toward downtown during rush hour," he said. "Who knows what would've happened."

Mount Prospect Police Chief John Dahlberg agrees with Sill.

"I can think of no single more important activity for a Mount Prospect Police Officer to have been involved in last Thursday evening than stopping the driver operating his vehicle on a warm summer evening toward the heart of our downtown at 73 mph while impaired by alcohol," Dahlberg said in a news release. "This particular driver was a clear and present danger to all who were present along his path - including other motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists."

Mount Prospect Police had issued 5,123 moving violation citations as of July 31, which is an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2008. During the same time, property damage and personal injury traffic crashes are down 19 percent and 11 percent respectively, according to police records.

When the police department conducted a similar crackdown in June, 189 speeding tickets were issued, Sill said. The police department will conduct another "speed week" in September.

Speeding ticket revenue goes back to the village's general fund and not directly to the police department, Sill said.