Officers from around the state are coming to town to help metro police over the next 90 days as they crack down on aggressive and drunken drivers on Savannah’s streets.
What’s been dubbed Operation Thunder starts Friday.
About 30 visiting officers will join Savannah-Chatham police in road checks and saturation of high-traffic areas in all five precincts, said Julian Miller, department spokesman.
The operation, being held in collaboration with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, emphasizes speed enforcement, pedestrian safety and bicycle safety.
Miller said Interim Police Chief Julie Tolbert asked for the operation after a series of fatal hit-and-run incidents involving pedestrians and 11 wrecks this year along with 24 others that resulted in serious injury.
“Serious and fatal accidents are among the most heart breaking events we respond to and it is so disturbing to realize most could have been prevented with just a little more caution on the part of motorists, pedestrians and cyclists,” Tolbert said in a news release. “Some of these victims are children and many of them were doing absolutely nothing wrong when someone else’s carelessness brought them tragedy. We hope this operation will help us curtail that.”
The operation is overseen by metro Traffic Unit Lt. Greg Mitchell, who is steering it toward traffic hot spots through road checks, speed enforcement and school zone enforcement.
Visiting officers will join Mitchell’s traffic officers and precinct patrol officers through Aug. 29.
“Speeders, aggressive drivers and drunk drivers will be sought out in an attempt to make our streets and highways safer,” Mitchell said in the news release, pointing out that extra efforts will be made to address roadway safety during the July 4 weekend.