During the week of Feb. 16, the Bogalusa Police Department issued 16 speeding citations along Columbia Street.

From Nov. 1, 2014, through Feb. 18, 2015, the department issued 54 tickets for moving violations not involving an accident.

At the Feb. 2 Bogalusa City Council meeting, Columbia Street business owners complained about the constant speeding from cars and school buses. The uptick in speeding tickets were noticed by more than just a few Bogalusa citizens. However, business owners declined comment when asked for their thoughts on speeders being ticketed.

Bogalusa Mayor Wendy Perrette said she was glad to see the department being proactive.

“Maybe those speeding tickets will teach people to slow down

in these areas. Maybe people will start slowing down, and we won’t be having so many of these accidents,” Perrette said. “All that ticket money supports the Police Department and court system.”

The Daily News conducted an unscientific, random survey of two towns in the state similar to Bogalusa’s population of 13,000. Police departments in those cities were asked for their number of monthly speeding citations issued and monthly average of moving violations not involving an accident.

With a population of 14,555, Pineville police reported 306 service calls from Jan. 1 to Feb. 19. Of that number, police issued a total of 70 citations.

Police in Bastrop, with a population of 10,949, reported 24 total moving violations from Nov. 1-30, 2014. That number included 20 speeding tickets. From Dec. 1-31, 2014, Bastrop police issued 11 moving violations, mostly for speeding violations. From Jan. 1-31, 2015, Bastrop police issued five tickets for speeding.