Crystal Lake seatbelt enforcement - 36 hours, 37 tickets

I would like to acknowledge the Crystal Lake (Ill.) Police Department for its tranparency on its Memorial Day Click-It-or-Ticket campaign. While I personally do not like the "primary enforcement" authority for ticketing seatbelt-only violations, I compliment the Crystal Lake P.D. for stepping up and releasing the infomation.

Here's today's press release from the Crystal Lake P.D.

The Crystal Lake Police Department conducted a Safety Belt Enforcement Campaign from May 20th through May 30^th, 2011. This event was part of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program conducted for the Memorial Day holiday.

During the thirty six (36) hours of additional patrol time, both day and night, the Crystal Lake Police Department issued a total of thirty seven (37) traffic citations. Twenty (20) of the citations issued were for failure to wear safety belt violations. Sixteen (16) citations issued were for operation of uninsured motor vehicles, speeding, disregarding traffic control devices, improper turns and motor vehicle equipment violations. One (1) citation issued was for a graduated driver’s license violation.  

The enforcement campaign was funded in part by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation and is administered by IDOT’s Division of Traffic Safety. 

I'm not sure how many grant dollars they scarfed up to write one ticket an hour. Plenty, I'm sure.