MADISON (WKOW) – Madison police report a 10% decrease in OWI arrests since last year.

Data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation shows Madison had nearly 1,200 OWI cases in 2024, with 140 involving injuries. From January to June 2024, there were 613 cases and 78 injuries. In the same period this year, there were 556 cases with 47 injuries.

Capt. Eugene Woehrle, who oversees traffic and specialized services, offered insight into the decline.

"Our injury crashes have seen a pretty significant reduction in the front half of 2025 compared to 2024," Woehrle said.

Woehrle noted that the OWI numbers haven't been this low since the COVID-19 pandemic. "During COVID, we actually saw a lot less people just out on the road in general. So there was a significant decline in all citations

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