Monona chief: public traffic dashboard shows crash hotspots; department will target enforcement zones

Chief Cheney, Monona police chief, told the Public Safety Committee that the Monona Police Department’s new public traffic dashboard shows concentrated crash activity and is guiding targeted enforcement on the BeltLine, U.S. 51, Broadway and several residential streets.

The dashboard, available on the department’s website, offers interactive maps, incident details and time-range toggles that officers and residents can use to view crashes, citations and directed‑patrol activity, Cheney said. He said the map dots sometimes plot outside Monona when a traffic stop or follow‑up occurred elsewhere in the county on a case that originated in Monona.

“The beauty about the consortium is that it gives us the ability to have this,” Cheney said of the five‑agency records management consortium that produced the dashboard. He added that officers can click a map point to see an incident summary, the statute cited and non‑identifying demographic data.

Cheney described two automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras already operating in Monona and a third camera in progress. He said the cameras are not speed‑enforcement devices and noted statutory limits on camera uses: “It’s illegal for you to use cameras in the state of Wisconsin for speed enforcement or anything like that. It’s literally in the statute.”

Cheney told the committee the ALPR system helped detectives locate a stalking suspect who had violated bail conditions: “We actually caught her in the act,” he said, crediting the consortium’s analyst and the mobile officer alerts that the system generates.

To concentrate enforcement, the department has drawn “designated enforcement zones” (DECs) that direct officers to problem areas for focused patrols and traffic stops. Cheney said DECs are intended to respond to resident complaints on local streets such as Fenreich Drive as well as higher‑volume corridors. He said directed patrol hours logged in DECs exceed routine patrol hours in those areas during enforcement efforts.

Chief Cheney said staffing limits restrict how often the department can sustain highly visible enforcement on the BeltLine and other hot spots. He said most patrol shifts run two officers and that dedicated operations such as aircraft‑assisted enforcement have been intermittent. Cheney said he plans to raise the idea of a trial dedicated traffic officer with Mayor Moore: “One of the things I asked for in the referendum … was a traffic officer,” he said, proposing a short trial when staffing allows.

Cheney also described a broader county enforcement partnership and occasional state patrol aerial enforcement, which he said several times has aided local enforcement but is not a permanent asset. He credited Dane County initiatives and interagency cooperation for a recent reduction in stolen‑vehicle incidents and said changes to local pursuit policy made some follow‑up enforcement more feasible.

No formal action was taken by the committee during the discussion; Cheney presented the dashboard and enforcement approach and said he will follow up with the mayor and council on a trial traffic officer.