Crime & Safety
Citrus Heights PD Gets 2 Grants Totaling $224K
The grants will go towards an anti-DUI program and traffic safety.
The Citrus Heights Police Department recently received two grants totaling more than $224,000 to be used for additional traffic safety efforts and an anti-DUI program.
From the Citrus Heights Police Department:
Citrus Heights Police Department has been awarded a $163,300.00 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on our roadways through special enforcement and public awareness efforts. The grant received by Citrus Heights will aid in the city’s ongoing effort to improve traffic safety and the quality of life.
Citrus Heights Police Department will use the funding as part of an on-going commitment to keep our roadways safe through both enforcement and education.
“The Citrus Heights Police Department is proud to continue the efforts of the Office of Traffic Safety. This grant will allow us to continue our enforcement efforts on driving under the influence to improve traffic safety and the quality of life in Citrus Heights, said Police Chief Christopher Boyd”.
The grant will assist in efforts to deal with traffic safety problems and to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions. While traffic deaths from all causes declined by nearly 39 percent between 2006 and 2010 in California, they rose by 2.6 percent in 2011. State and federal officials anticipate that figures will show another rise for 2012.
DUI deaths remain the largest sector, at nearly 30 percent of traffic fatalities. Recent trends show increases in two new categories – distracted driving and drug-impaired driving.
Activities the grant will fund include:
- Specialized DUI and drugged driving training such as Standardized Field SobrietyTesting (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), and DrugRecognition Evaluator (DRE)
- DUI Saturation Patrols
- Motorcycle safety enforcement
- Distracted driving enforcement
- Seat belt and child safety seat enforcement
- Speed, red light and stop sign enforcement
- Warrant service operations targeting multiple DUI offenders
- Compilation of DUI “Hot Sheets,” identifying worst-of-the-worst DUI offenders
- Stakeout operations to observe the “worst of the worst” repeat DUI offender probationers with suspended or revoked driver licenses
Citrus Heights Police Department was also awarded a new traffic safety grant for an anti-DUI program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on Citrus Heights roadways. Enforcement measures to combat impaired driving are coming as a result of a recent $61,875.00 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to Citrus Heights.
The Citrus Heights Police Department is dedicated to keeping our streets safe through both enforcement and education.
The special DUI Checkpoint grant is to assist in efforts to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol and other drug related collisions in the community. The grant activities will specifically target impaired driving offenders as well as educate the public on the dangers of impaired driving. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving.
Drunk and drugged driving is among America’s deadliest crimes. In 2011, 774 people were killed and over 24,000 injured in alcohol and drug-impaired crashes in California. In 2012,Citrus Heights did not experience any deaths but 35 people were injured in these tragic crashes.Crashes involving alcohol have been shown to drop by up to 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough.
Checkpoints have proven to be the most effective of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent and are supported by nearly 90 percent of California drivers.
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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