Deputies hand out 180 tickets to seat-belt violators

Deputies in Sedgwick County gave 180 citations to adults who failed to buckle up during this year’s statewide “Click It or Ticket” campaign.

The seat belt enforcement effort ran from May 22 to June 4. In addition to the seat belt tickets handed out to adults, deputies wrote 12 citations over children 13 and younger who weren’t properly strapped in, said Lt. Lin Dehning, spokesman for the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office. No one aged 14 to 17 was cited, he said.

Deputies also arrested five people on suspicion of committing misdemeanor crimes and wrote tickets for 223 various other violations, Dehning said. It was immediately unclear how many vehicles were stopped.

Nine deputies and one reserve deputy worked the campaign outside of their normal shifts. Their overtime was paid for through a Kansas Department of Transportation grant, Dehning said.

Last week, the Wichita Police Department said its officers stopped 215 cars and wrote more than 250 citations during the two-week enforcement.

This story was originally published June 12, 2017 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Deputies hand out 180 tickets to seat-belt violators."