Raleigh police issue 130 charges, seize guns in traffic crackdown

Raleigh police concentrated their latest traffic crackdown on Interstate 440, downtown Raleigh, Glenwood South and southeast Raleigh, and the numbers pointed to the same roads drivers keep seeing on enforcement maps. Officers said the Saturday saturation patrol produced 130 charges and 15 DWI arrests, while a separate I-440 effort during Work Zone Awareness Week stopped 52 drivers over several days.

Police said the Saturday operation covered Glenwood Avenue, Whitaker Mill Road, Capital Boulevard, Yonkers Road, Raleigh Boulevard, Rock Quarry Road, Interstate 40 and South Saunders Street. Across both operations, officers recorded 60 speeding violations and 16 DWI arrests, along with eight cases of driving while license revoked, two no-operator’s-license cases, one open container violation, one expired registration, one improper muffler, one vehicle seizure and one served arrest warrant. Two firearms were also seized.

The pattern matters because Raleigh police have kept returning to the same high-traffic corridors. On March 17, officers ran a high-visibility DWI operation on New Bern Avenue and around Glenwood Avenue that produced 204 traffic stops, 301 charges, 32 DWI arrests, 20 DWLR charges and three firearms seized. In December, a Capital Boulevard patrol stretching from I-540 through downtown generated 130 total charges, 10 DWI arrests, 104 traffic stops, 40 speeding charges, eight DWLR charges, four warrants served and one weapons violation.

A late-November patrol on New Bern Avenue added 20 DWI arrests, 106 traffic stops, 142 charges, 12 warrants served, two vehicles seized and one firearm seized. Raleigh police have said the goal is not only to write tickets but to deter dangerous driving and hold repeat offenders accountable, especially in places that mix commuter traffic, nightlife and construction zones.

The Beltline has also shown why the department keeps coming back. WRAL reported a vehicle was clocked at 119 mph on I-440 between I-40 and Six Forks Road on March 12, a speed that underscored the risks along one of Wake County’s busiest corridors. For Raleigh police, the latest crackdown signals that I-440, Capital Boulevard, New Bern Avenue and downtown thoroughfares are likely to stay under close watch.