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BIRMINGHAM/BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — As the weather warms up, the police departments along Woodward Avenue are working together to address cruising and vehicle noise.
In the recent Birmingham city manager’s report, Birmingham Police Chief Scott Grewe shared a message to the community about how the department has been handling the traffic on Woodward.
Just as they have in previous years, the Birmingham Police Department has assigned additional officers to target Woodward cruise traffic. In general, higher volumes of traffic are observed on Friday and Saturday evenings.
“Every Friday and Saturday evening we have two officers that are on overtime to work specifically the Woodward traffic issue,” Grewe said.
In addition to these officers, they are pulling one officer from their regular patrol unit that is on duty to also assist on Woodward Avenue. Other officers will be patrolling over areas of Birmingham, as regularly scheduled, and will participate in enforcement activity on Woodward when they are not working on other areas of the city.
Bloomfield Township puts out two vehicles every weekend on overtime from the time the weather breaks until around October.
“We want people to be able to enjoy their evening, but we also want people to be safe,” Bloomfield Township Police Chief James Gallagher said.
The police chiefs said the Woodward traffic became a greater issue for the community during the pandemic. While they would get routine traffic at certain parts of the summer, they noticed a shift a few years ago.
“When COVID hit and people didn’t have much to do, Woodward was very busy all summer long, and it seems like that behavior and activity has stuck since then,” Grewe said.
Local police departments and municipalities have been working with state representatives.
“We are limited by what state law permits us, especially for the noise,” Gallagher said. “Our laws and the way they are written on the books today make it very difficult to enforce the sound from these cars.”
According to Grewe’s message in the City Manager report, the Birmingham Police Department contacted state representatives in the fall of 2022 and provided a suggested change in state law giving the police an enforcement tool to address the issue of noise from vehicles, as well as seeking support from the county.
Grewe was joined by police chiefs from Royal Oak and Ferndale, who supported the request.
Bloomfield Township held a meeting with agencies along Woodward Avenue, as well as with the Michigan State Police, Oakland County commissioners, state representatives and other local leaders April 19 to discuss reckless driving along the Woodward corridor. This meeting was in response to the recent fatal drag racing accident.
In the city manager’s report, Grewe reported that over the weekend of Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, officers wrote 67 tickets and arrested an intoxicated driver as additional Woodward traffic detail officers worked 5 p.m.-midnight.
To provide additional funding for Woodward enforcement patrols, the Birmingham Police Department has also applied for grant funding from the Office of Highway Safety Planning.
The Birmingham Police Department is located at 151 Martin Street and can be contacted at (248) 530-1800. The Bloomfield Township Police Department is located at 4200 Telegraph Road and can be contacted at (248) 433-7755.
