MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Meridian Township officials are ramping up traffic enforcement efforts after residents voiced concerns about speeding throughout the community during a listening session Tuesday.
The township has nearly tripled its traffic stops and citations since adding dedicated enforcement officers, according to Rick Grillo, Department director of police administration.
"As of September 30th, 2023, we had written 753 tickets and made 2,259 stops. As of today in 2025, we've written 2,026 tickets and made almost 6,000 stops, so we have increased our traffic patrols and stops, and citations by nearly triple," Grillo said.
The data-driven approach allows officials to target enforcement where it's needed most, particularly in school zones where residents expressed heightened concerns.
"It gives me an opportunity to do data-driven enforcement. If I have this data, it shows me the exact day and time when we have the worst speeding problem, then I can allocate my resources to where they are supposed to be," Grillo said.
• Meridian Township has nearly tripled traffic enforcement, writing 2,026 tickets and making almost 6,000 stops in 2025 compared to 753 tickets and 2,259 stops in 2023
• Officials are using data-driven enforcement to target speeding hotspots and school zones where residents expressed the most concern
• The township plans to expand its traffic patrol program after seeing positive results from adding dedicated enforcement officers
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School zone enforcement has become a priority, with officers regularly monitoring these areas to ensure drivers comply with speed limits.
"What we do is we send officers to that zone, not every day, but we do have officers in that zone. That is one of those spots I have my traffic officer checking to see if people are obeying the speed limit," Grillo said.
Officials say the addition of traffic enforcement officers has already shown results in reducing speeding, with plans to expand the patrol program further.
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