‘Operation Southern Shield’
Earlier this month, law enforcement throughout the state were busy cracking down on speeders, thanks to an initiative designed to reduce serious injuries and fatalities on the roadways.
The Cape Coral Police Department, along with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol, were out in force for “Operation Southern Shield,” a speed awareness initiative going on throughout the Southeastern United States.
From July 15-21, state and local law enforcement agencies in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee joined forces for a high-visibility enforcement and awareness campaign to reduce fatalities and serious injuries by getting motorists to obey speed limits on roadways from local to interstate highways.
“Speeding is a dangerous choice that can have dire consequences. The CCPD is proud to participate in an initiative like Operation Southern Shield to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding, in the hope that drivers make safe and sound decisions on the roads. Speed limits and traffic enforcement exist to save lives, and officers will have that at the forefront of their minds when taking action,” said Phil Mullen of the Public Affairs Office at the CCPD.
CCPD’s involvement was climaxed by a traffic saturation operation on Saturday, July 20, which was part of its effort to increase traffic safety awareness and education, and to emphasize the importance of obeying traffic laws to reduce traffic crashes, injuries, and deaths on city roads.
The “Wolfpack” operation resulted in 61 traffic stops, 33 of which were warnings. There were 16 speeding citations, 11 moving citations, five non-moving citations, and two drunk driving arrests.
Speeding killed 9,717 people in 2017, accounting for more than a quarter of all traffic fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Half of the them were not wearing seat belts.