A North Texas town made about 49,000 traffic stops in a year and a half, but only about half of the stops resulted in a citation.
Flower Mound officers handed out approximately 26,000 tickets out of 49,055 stops during a 19-month period between 2009 to 2010. Officers did not issue tickets in about 47 percent of the stops.
But the police department said the town is one of the safest in the United States because of traffic stops.
"It's a good tool to stop someone they suspect may be in a certain area under suspicious circumstances," Capt. Richard Brooks said.
According to the town's traffic enforcement report, traffic stops resulted in 1,152 arrests from January 2009 to August 2010, including drug and burglary arrests.
But the town only has less than 70,000 residents, and some of them are questioning the high number of stops.
“It sounds like almost everyone in Flower Mound may have gotten a ticket,” driver Brad Sullivan said.
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He said ticket money could be a reason for the high number, especially because of the budget crisis in Flower Mound and throughout Texas.
But Flower Mound police said money does not motivate traffic stops.
"We absolutely have no focus on money," Brooks said. "We're looking to keep the streets safer and work a particular area that's having a problem."
Of the 26,000 tickets, only 42 percent were written for speeding, with average speeds of 15 mph over the speed limit. Other citations included offenses such as driving with expired tags.
