Ocala Police Department officers made at least 246 arrests, dealt with at least 40 significant crimes, and conducted 1,344 traffic stops over the past two weeks, continuing a trend this year that has seen an average increase in weekly traffic stops of over 35%.
The data was reported by OPD Chief Mike Balken during the Ocala City Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, June 17.
According to Balken, during the two-week period from June 2 to June 15, his officers conducted approximately 1,344 traffic stops. That represents a 68% increase over the same period last year.
Over the last several meetings, Balken has reported similar increases. During the last half of May, Balken’s says his officers conducted approximately 1,236 traffic stops, which was about 38% higher than the same period last year.
According to Ocala-News.com, over the period from January 1 to about June 3, OPD conducted at least 11,653 traffic stops. The new data brings the overall number of traffic stops to approximately 12,997, not including potential stops between April 14 and April 20.
Weekly heat maps continue to show the highest concentrations of traffic stops occur along State Road 200, S Pine Avenue, and Silver Springs Boulevard. Stops in those corridors mirror OPD’s efforts this year, with Balken previously stating his officers and traffic unit were targeting Ocala’s most popular thoroughfares.
The 1,344 traffic stops from June 2 to June 15 follow the same trend that OPD has established all year, cracking 1,000 traffic stops every two weeks since the organization began reporting the data at the beginning of 2025.
In addition to the traffic stop data, Balken also provided a brief recap of the felonies, or significant crimes, that his department has dealt with over the past two weeks. According to Balken, his officers handled 40 of those incidents, with the largest concentration coming in the southwest quadrant of the city.
The chart shows that many of the crimes recorded were burglaries and at least eight of the incidents involved weapons.
Balken says the amount of incidents for the period represents a 7% increase over last year’s numbers.
Similarly, arrest numbers dropped by around 8% from last year, with OPD recording approximately 246 arrests over the two-week period.
What are your thoughts on the increase in traffic stops across the city and the decreases in felony crimes and arrests? Do you think the Ocala Police Department should target additional thoroughfares, increase patrols, or take other measures? Share your comments below or, if you have more to say on the topic, write a letter to the editor.