Norman PD Increases Patrols For Black Friday

Many agencies across the area increased patrols for Black Friday, but in Norman there is a special saturation campaign.

The third edition of Operation Cadence netted 100 traffic citations and three arrests in eight hours, all from one intersection.

The operation is in honor of Cadence Gordon, an 8-year-old girl killed by a drunk driver on Labor Day three years ago.

“A young life was lost to an impaired driver on a holiday, so we like to take our opportunities to do Operation Cadence on holidays, just to encourage people to drive responsibly,” explained Lt. Jeff Robertson.

The officers working Operation Cadence were not expecting the kind of drunk driving they see on holidays like 4th of July and Labor Day, but they did see lots of people using cell phones, not wearing seat belts and rushing to beat the lights to snag those special Black Friday deals.

A state grant helps make Operation Cadence possible. One spotter and eight patrol officers came in for overtime, while the normal patrol made rounds in the rest of the city.

As the department organizes more of these campaigns, police hope their message gets across to drivers. Obey the law and be safe.

“Those fatality accidents that we have, they’re taking a life away not only from that person but from the rest of their family and the holidays are meant for us to enjoy with our families," Robertson said.

Norman police are working to get more funding to expand Operation Cadence to all holidays.