In a continuing effort to curb aggressive driving around the state, the Utah Highway Patrol Wednesday nearly tripled the number of troopers along I-15 in Salt Lake County.
The one-day enforcement blitz involved 68 troopers, including 14 motorcycle officers. A federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice paid overtime for the extra troopers as well as for eight new motorcycles as part of an Aggressive Driver Enforcement Campaign.
With that purchase, 10 motorcycles have been moved to Salt Lake County to help with traffic enforcement. An additional four motorcycles are planned for both Utah and Davis counties, UHP Sgt. Andy Campbell said.
Troopers say the maneuverability of the motorcycles offers police another advantage in traffic enforcement.
"A lot of times when we have a crash the freeway is completely shut down," Sgt. Doug McCleve said. "Even in the emergency lanes sometimes it's difficult to get to the scene of the crash."
But there are also some drawbacks. The Harley Davidson motorcycles don't come with cameras as police cruisers do and are only used in weather warmer than 40 degrees, Campbell said. Officers must be in good physical shape to chase speeders and tailgaters on a motorcycle.
"It's extremely more demanding," Campbell said. "You don't have the air conditioning, you don't have the stereo, you're wearing black leather boots that are knee-high . . . . You have to be in pretty good shape to be able to do that."
The 10 troopers who are now on motorcycles in Salt Lake County completed a 45-hour training class and up to 100 hours of field training. UHP now has a total of 22 motorcycles, McCleve said.
Following Wednesday's enforcement campaign, UHP plans to keep the motorcycle squad on freeways in Salt Lake County on a daily basis to patrol during both the morning and afternoon rush hour.
"People should start noticing them a lot more than they have in the past years," Campbell said.
There are typically between 20 to 25 troopers on the road a day in Salt Lake County. The 10 motorcycle officers will drive their patrol cars to and from work and, weather permitting, use their motorcycles while they're on duty, Campbell said.
Overtime funds will be used for additional patrols along Utah roadways throughout the summer.
The motorcycles were also used in a recent enforcement campaign along U.S. 6.
E-mail: djensen@desnews.com