In its first seven weeks of operation, the Marquette University Police Department’s new traffic enforcement unit initiated over 150 traffic stops, issuing 123 citations and making nine arrests for operating while intoxicated. That represents a 156% increase in traffic stops from the same time period in 2024, while traffic citations have increased by 224%. MUPD had made two OWI arrests during this same period last year.
MUPD launched the effort June 1, devoting officers, equipment and training resources to mitigate reckless driving in and around the Marquette campus.
“MUPD is committed to the safety of our community and this new unit has certainly aided in our ongoing pedestrian safety efforts,” MUPD Chief Edith Hudson said. “College campuses are pedestrian focused spaces, and with a small investment in speed detection equipment and additional officer training, we are making strides in mitigating reckless driving in and around our campus. Our goal is to create an effective deterrence to reckless driving in our community and ultimately change dangerous traffic behaviors.”
The MUPD traffic enforcement unit is not a subset of officers but is staffed by on-duty officers without direct assignments for their shift. These officers received police lidar (“light detection and ranging”) devices for speed detection, allowing them to identify, pull over and cite speeding and reckless drivers.
With almost 70 trained public safety professionals, including 48 sworn police officers, MUPD has an extensive safety infrastructure throughout campus and in the near off-campus neighborhood, which includes more than 1,200 cameras and more than 450 Blue Light phones, a state-of-the-art command information center and the nationally recognized Department of Campus Safety.
