NORTH CANTON, Ohio — The North Canton Police Department is making its speed data public.
Residents can now see data collected by officers through a new website. Data on accidents and traffic stops is now available online. Residents can also see which streets police are monitoring for speeding.
The department also shares its different speed enforcement tactics on the new website, including a map of where speed radars are currently located in the city. North Canton Police Chief Frank Kemp Jr. said many of those tactics, like speed trailers, are meant to remind drivers to watch their speed, not necessarily to write tickets.
Still, Kemp said speeding remains the number one complaint from North Canton residents.
He said the department wanted to be transparent with the public, and it is already paying off. Kemp said most drivers are following the rules.
"We're seeing with our percentages," he said. "It's less than 10% of the traveling public through an area that is doing some sort of speeding. What the data also helps us to do, the data helps us to narrow time frames that can be most effective as we patrol the whole city. We want to make sure that we're giving a fair patrol activity to each of the neighborhoods within the community and our business districts."
The website is a part of the department's new Drive Safe North Canton initiative. There is also other transportation information on the website, including child car seat safety and seat belt reminders.
Along with the emergence of e-bikes in North Canton, the site also explains the rules of the road for their use.
For a link to the website, click here.
