On September 30, 2019, the city of Oakwood received a five page report entitled “Who Gets Stopped in Oakwood? The Racial Divide”. The report was prepared by Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (“ABLE”). The authors are Ellis Jacobs, Senior Attorney with ABLE, and Dr. Martha Hurley, Ph.D., University of Dayton Professor and Director of Criminal Justice Studies. The report is attached as Exhibit A. Exhibit B attached hereto is a statement read aloud and into the record by Mayor William Duncan at the October 7, 2019 Oakwood City Council meeting. As mentioned in the October 7, 2019 statement, the city of Oakwood takes all matters related to the delivery of public safety services very seriously. The city committed to completing a thorough review of the report and to prepare a written response. This document is that response.
The city of Oakwood has a long history of placing strong emphasis on traffic enforcement. This has been the case for decades and will continue. It is a cornerstone of our Public Safety Department’s policing philosophy and plays a key role in reducing crime, OVI, and other traffic offenses that often directly or indirectly contribute to unsafe situations, and vehicle and/or pedestrian accidents. The result is a community where all citizens are comfortable in their homes and on city streets, and in particular where parents are confident that their children are in a safe environment.
The entire city of Oakwood consists of approximately two square miles with nearly all of the land area devoted to residential living. Exhibit C attached hereto is a map of Oakwood that shows in yellow highlight the residential land and blue highlight the commercial. Oakwood is essentially one big residential neighborhood. State Route 48 (Far Hills Avenue) bisects Oakwood. It is a 4-lane highway serving as a major and primary thoroughfare between downtown Dayton and the southern Montgomery County suburbs. In 2016, about 13,400 vehicles per day travelled through Oakwood along Far Hills Avenue. The count was about 15,300 per day in 2019. (Source: Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission)