Study Names Top Ten Speed Traps in Cuyahoga County

A study of traffic tickets issued in Cuyahoga County spotlights communities that area speed demons should avoid if they don’t want to see blinking police car lights in their rear-view mirrors.

The Northeast Ohio Media Group calculated the rankings in an article published Monday based on per-capita tickets that police in Cuyahoga County suburbs issued in 2012 and 2013.

At the top of the list, according to the article, was “in a surprise to almost no one, Linndale – infamous for its I-71 speed trap.” The community is the smallest incorporated village in Cuyahoga County, with 179 residents. The article said Linndale officers issued 10,000 tickets in the two years covered in the study.

After Linndale, according to the NEOMG study, come (in order of the number of tickets) Bratenahl, North Randall, Cuyahoga Heights, Highland Hills, Newburgh Heights, Woodmere, Glenwillow and Walton Hills, with Mayfield taking 10th place.

None of the top 10 communities for tickets has more than 3,000 residents.

In the NEOMG article, Linndale Police Chief Tim Franczak said he took the position last summer and that those who came before him are mainly at fault for the speed trap reputation. “I believe it was over-aggression by a prior administration,” he was quoted in the article.

The Linndale Mayor’s Court, which has since been abolished, netted $800,000 in fines in 2012, a full three quarters of the village’s operating funds, the NEOMG report said.

Officers interviewed for the article, according to the NEOMG report, denied handing out speeding tickets to raise money for their communities. They said they issued tickets to improve safety and reduce accidents.

The article contains links to each community on the list, with more detailed information about each “speed trap” community’s location and circumstances, the number of tickets issued, and other factors.