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Northampton police present 2025 traffic enforcement and collision data; $30,920 grant noted
Summary
Chief John Cartage reported 2025 traffic-enforcement activity and collision totals to the Transportation and Parking Commission, detailing OUI arrests and a $30,920.19 Mass Municipal Road Safety Program grant for targeted enforcement and equipment.
Northampton Police Chief John Cartage presented the department’s 2025 traffic‑safety and OUI enforcement numbers to the Transportation and Parking Commission on March 17 and described how grant funding supports targeted enforcement.
Chief Cartage reported the department’s recorded enforcement outcomes for 2025, including warnings, fines, criminal complaints and arrests. The transcript records 2,457 warnings, 289 civil fines, 226 criminal complaints and 97 arrests. The total number of citations the chief read aloud is unintelligible in the transcript as "3,69"; that figure is unclear in the meeting record and is marked not specified here. Cartage said the department arrested or summoned 65 drivers for operating under the influence (OUI), of which 60 were alcohol‑related and five were drug‑related; 19 were subsequent offenses and 22 individuals refused breath testing at booking.
The department investigated 497 motor‑vehicle collisions in 2025, Cartage said; he reported 108 collisions that involved injury and listed nine bicycle‑related injuries involving motor vehicles and eight pedestrian injuries involving motor vehicles. Cartage described a rise in some categories: "This was an 8.33 increase from 2024," he said (as recorded in the transcript).
Cartage said the department received $30,920.19 from the Mass Municipal Road Safety Program to fund targeted enforcement waves and equipment purchases (including covert speed‑measuring devices) and outlined how the grant supports directed enforcement efforts focused on problem areas identified by residents and commissioners.
Councilors asked for detail about pedestrian and bicycle injuries and whether the incidents were motor‑vehicle related; Cartage clarified that the pedestrian and bicycle injuries he cited were related to motor-vehicle collisions and said he would include more intermodal detail in future reports. Commissioners also asked for more granular intermodal collision reporting moving forward.
Ending: Chief Cartage’s report closed without further action; commissioners thanked the police department for partnership with DPW on safety improvements and asked that targeted intermodal collision data be tracked in the coming year.
