Report: Seattle police spending less time writing traffic tickets

The number of tickets Seattle Police are giving out is down — dramatically — compared to the last few years.

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The Seattle Times did a comparison of municipal court records and found officers issued 39,000 traffic tickets last year, which is actually down by about 28 percent from 2015. That's 15,000 fewer tickets in just one year.

The Times points out that traffic cops have more responsibilities than issuing tickets for traffic violations. Traffic enforcement includes protests and events where more officers are needed.

Whether less ticketing has changed the number of traffic-related injuries and deaths has yet to be seen.

The data does not include tickets from traffic cameras because they are treated like parking tickets rather than a traffic infraction.

Cox Media Group