Shreveport police say during a recent operation they caught more than 100 drivers racing down Shreveport's interstate stretches in just a few hours last week — and they're urging people to slow down. Shreveport police during a operation Thursday at three locations on interstates 49 and 20 issued 107 speeding tickets, according to department spokesman Cpl. Chris Bordelon.
Some of those drivers allegedly were traveling at more than 100 mph. The operation was conducted between 2 p.m.
to 7 p.m. Thursday, Bordelon said.
At I-20 and Monkhouse Drive, Bordelon said the average speed for citations issued during the operation was 85 mph and the highest speed was 102 mph. At I-49 and Pierremont Road, Bordelon said the average speed for citations issued during the operation was 85 mph and the highest speed was 103 mph. At I-49 and 70th Street, Bordelon said the average speed for citations issued during the operation was 82 mph and the highest speed was 91 mph.
Bordelon said there likely were a number of other drivers who sped past officers during the operation but were not stopped. "When we do these, they don't even start stopping cars until they're 20 mph over the speed limit. Most of these cars, that's why the speeds are so high," Bordelon said.
Bordelon said the total number of citations written during the operation for speeding and other infractions was 151. In a news release about the operation, the Shreveport Police Department said the operation was in response to a number of fatal crashes over the course of the year. "The primary focus of this enforcement operation was to reduce the number of crashes caused by speeding," the news release said.
"Such reckless driving not only endangers the lives of the drivers but also the safety of all road users." Shreveport police have investigated 22 fatal crashes so far in 2024, according to the news release. Speed has been a factor in many of them.
The speed enforcement operation was conducted using handheld and vehicle-mounted LIDAR, laser devices which largely have replaced the radar guns commonly used by police, Bordelon said..
