BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CRESTVIEW HILLS - Officers from every Kenton County police department conducted mass preholiday road checks Tuesday, resulting in a traffic jam on Dixie Highway and some unhappy motorists.
A total of 170 people were cited for a variety of traffic offenses during road checks on Ky. 16 (Winston Avenue) at the Latonia shopping center and Dixie Highway in Crestview Hills near Crestview Mall.
Lt. Col. Ed Burk, Kenton County Police assistant chief, said he was "pleased and impressed with the effort of all the officers and the results.
"We checked between 1,500 and 2,000 vehicles for operator's license, registration and insurance."
After less than two hours at the Dixie Highway site, officials were forced to shut down the checks because of snarled traffic.
"Things got real busy on Dixie Highway," Lt. Col. Burk said. "We realized that the road check was beginning to impede traffic, which was not what we wanted to happen, so we shut the operation down about two hours early."
Of the 208 traffic-related citations issued, 117 were for no proof of insurance, and 57 were for not wearing a seat belt. Fourteen citations were for failure to show registration, and there were eight each for improper or lack of child restraints and failure to notify change of address.
There were three arrests, one for an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court and two for driving with a suspended operator's license.
Lt. Col. Burk said there were several calls to the Kenton County dispatch line from irate motorists who were stopped at one of the checks, and a few calls to the Kenton County judge-executive's office.
"I think most people handled it very well, but we also had some real unhappy drivers," he said. "We had some people using terms like Communist, Fascist and Gestapo."
There were complaints that the police should not have been checking for seat belt use because the state law stipulates that a person cannot be cited for a seat belt violation unless the vehicle has been stopped for another reason.
"We checked with the state attorney general and we believe we are on solid ground," Lt. Col. Burk said. "The opinion we received is that if we are running the road checks for license, insurance and registration, we can also cite someone who isn't using a seat belt."
He praised the joint effort of police officers from Covington, Crescent Springs, Edgewood, Erlanger, Elsmere, Fort Mitchell, Fort Wright, Independence, Kenton County Police, Kenton County Sheriff, Kentucky State Police, Lakeside Park - Crestview Hills, Ludlow, Park Hills, Taylor Mill and Villa Hills.
"We had a total of about 30 officers working the road checks," he said. "This is the first time I'm aware of where we've had a cooperative effort like this with all departments working toward a common goal."
