State Police Troop D produced the second-highest number of contacts during a recent program intended to emphasize road enforcement.

Statewide, more than 400 troopers and 200 municipal police officers participated in the two-day Operation Nighthawk on Aug. 12 and 13.

For its part, Troop D — which covers Butler, Armstrong, Lawrence, Beaver and Mercer counties and a small part of Allegheny County — had 35 state troopers and 25 local police officers participate in this year’s program, the fourth-highest participation in the state. The group produced 644 contacts, behind only Troop E’s 794, which covers Erie County and its surrounding counties.

“A lot of our troopers live in Butler County. A lot of us have family in the area,” said Trooper Josh Black, the troop’s public information officer. “We take this seriously to protect them and anyone else who travels the roads of Butler County and the commonwealth.”

Black said “contacts” tracked are any time a participating officer made a traffic stop. He said though DUIs often are a heavily emphasized area of enforcement, contacts also could have included speeding, erratic driving or expired registration, among other reasons.

Troop D also was second statewide in citations (223), warnings (427) and non-DUI criminal arrest (29) among those contacts. The troop made the third highest number of DUI arrests, 43, behind Troop K in the Philadelphia area (78) and Troop E (71).

Operation Nighthawk is a state police program creating emphasis on road enforcement by conducting informative classes followed by brief concentrated patrol details. Local police officers also are encouraged to join the program.

Butler City and Jackson Township police departments sent officers to participate this year. Jackson Township Police Chief Terry Seilhamer, who retired from the state police in 2011, said he had a unique perspective on the 20th anniversary of the program.

“I was there at the first,“ Seilhamer said.

In its earlier years, Seilhamer said, the program focused on a combination of sobriety checkpoints and roving patrols. But in subsequent years, roving patrols became the preferred and more-effective method of policing roads.

“We’re just trying to make sure people know we’re out there, so hopefully everybody obeys the law and drives safely,“ Seilhamer said. “I think people just need to be reminded periodically.“

This year, Butler County hosted Troop D’s informational portion of the program, which included field sobriety test refreshers and a seminar by Armstrong County District Attorney Katie Charlton, who discussed case law followed by a period of question and answer with the officers.

“Every county in the troop was represented by a local police department,” Black said. “Obviously, if you have more police officers out there, you have more opportunity for contacts.”

In Pennsylvania, DUI convictions carry fines beginning at $300 plus court costs for first offenses of general impairment. Penalties increase for repeat offenses and higher levels of impairment, up to a maximum fine of $10,000 plus prison time and a license suspension.

Troop D made the third-highest number of DUI arrests in the state and also found seven drivers DUI with suspended licenses.

Seilhamer said he and another participating officer from his department patrolled from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. during the operation, and they did not encounter any DUI cases. He said he was glad for the lack of need of that type of enforcement, but they still stopped a number of people for other minor traffic violations.

“We made our presence known,” Seilhamer said.

Like Seilhamer, Black said he felt the operation is more than a two-day enforcement period and refresher course for officers. He said it lets people know that safety is a concern for law enforcement everywhere, particularly with driving under the influence incidents.

According to data released by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, there were 297 fatal vehicle crashes in 2021 that involved an impaired driver. The state annually has averaged about 544 fatal crashes of this nature during the past 20 years.

In Butler County, the average number of fatal crashes caused by impaired drivers is about nine per year. In 2021, there were seven fatal crashes related to impaired drivers.

“Any type of awareness that reaches the people is always a benefit,” he said.

According to a news release, the first Operation Nighthawk was in 2002 at Troop P, Wyoming, and the initiative has received national accolades and serves as a model for similar programs in other states.

“Over the past 20 years, Operation Nighthawk has been extremely successful at getting impaired drivers off the roads,” Col. Robert Evanchick, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, said in the release. “We are grateful to our municipal and regional police partners who share our zero-tolerance approach to this serious crime.”