In 2006, the Cincinnati, Ohio, Police Department developed and implemented its Crash Analysis Reduction Strategy (CARS), which reduced traffic crashes through a series of focused strategies that reduced crash opportunity, increased violator risk and effort, increased police guardianship on streets and highways, and ultimately saved lives. By the end of 2010, fatal traffic crashes within the city limits had been reduced by 47 percent compared to 2005.¹

The three primary action areas of CARS: high-visibility patrol, consistent enforcement, and analysis of hot spots paralleled those of the Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) model developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has been proven to both reduce crime and increase traffic safety in cities that have implemented it.² However, despite anecdotal evidence that CARS had a crime reduction effect, the Cincinnati Police Department had not formally measured CARS’ impact on criminal activity.