Flashing lights in the rearview mirror can put a huge damper on a road trip and in some cases, result in a costly ticket.

The Houston Chronicle conducted an analysis of traffic-stop data from 2020, reviewing Texas’ more than 2,500 police departments and found that many of the state’s most aggressive traffic enforcers shared key characteristics: small towns situated on busy high-speed thoroughfares where the speed limit quickly drops from highway to local-street speeds — or even lower where school zones intersect roads. Virtually all of the top-ranked departments had fewer than a dozen officers.

For some communities, traffic fines account for a substantial portion of the local government's budget, creating an implicit pressure to keep volume high.

But comparing traffic stop data from those smaller communities with a large city such as Houston, whose population grew by nearly 10 percent in the last decade, is like comparing apples to oranges. With 5,239 police officers, the Houston police department made a total of 217,288 stops in 2020. This amounts to 41 stops per officer. 

How do other Houston-area cities rank against each other?

Here's a list of the top 20 local jurisdictions with the highest number of stops per officer.

1. Jersey Village PD, Harris County

391 stops per officer, with 10,565 stops and 27 officers

2. Splendora PD, Montgomery County

343 stops per officer, with 5,116 stops 17 officers

3. Deer Park PD, Harris County

326 stops per officer, with 20,238 stops, 62 officers

4. Friendswood PD, Galveston County

323 stops per officer, with 20,051 stops, 62 officers

5. Jacinto City PD, Harris County

279 stops per officer, with 6,132 stops, 22 officers

6. Fulshear PD, Fort Bend County

276 stops per officer, with 7,186 stops, 26 officers

7. Southside Place PD, Harris County

275 stops per officer, with 3,020 stops, 11 officers

8. Magnolia PD, Montgomery County

271 stops per officer, with 4,599 stops, 17 officers

9. Hedwig Village, Harris County

247 stops per officer, with 4,201 stops, 17 officers

10. Spring Valley PD, Harris County

247 stops per officer, with 5,182 stops, 21 officers

11. Harris County Constable Precinct 8

231 stops per officer, with 16,666 stops, 72 officers

12. Katy PD, Harris County

227 stops per officer, with 15,181 stops, 67 officers

13. Manvel PD, Brazoria County

218 stops per officer, with 5,004 stops, 23 officers

14. La Porte PD, Harris County

215 stops per officer, with 17,806 stops, 83 officers

15. Montgomery County Constable Precinct 3

212 stops per officer, with 13,977 stops, 66 officers

16. Tomball PD, Harris County

175 stops per officer, with 8,232 stops, 47 officers

17. Humble PD, Harris County

167 stops per officer, with 10,711 stops, 64 officers

18. Stafford PD, Fort Bend County

165 stops per officer, with 8,907 stops, 54 officers

19. Meadows Place PD, Fort Bend County

163 stops per officer, with 4,229 stops, 26 officers

20. Oak Ridge North PD, Montgomery County

158 stops per officer, with 3,645 stops, 23 officers

Original article: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Here-s-where-cops-pulled-over-the-most-people-in-16398098.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=content_acquisition&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlemWBhDUARIsAFp1rLVRkVdnQY7qMzOzryqxnoPba4JuXUV_2LKfFSt_nNNX-92PPPpseZwaAlhcEALw_wcB