Tahnee Lightfoot, Public In
Glendale Police Department has been awarded a $440,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long program of special enforcements and public awareness efforts to prevent traffic related deaths and injuries. Glendale Police Department will use the funding as part of the city’s ongoing commitment to keep our roadways safe and improve the quality of life through both enforcement and education.
“Traffic safety and improvements are a top priority in the city of Glendale. The Glendale Police Department works continuously to educate drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians regarding mobility behavior and habit modifications needed to reduce traffic collisions in Glendale,” said Glendale Chief Robert Castro. “These OTS funds will allow for additional education and enforcement efforts.”
After falling dramatically between 2006 and 2010, the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions has been slowly rising. Particularly alarming are recent increases in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities, the growing dangers of distracting technologies, and the emergence of drug-impaired driving as a major problem. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk driving, speeding and crashes at intersections.
“Overall, California’s roadways are among the safest in the nation,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. “But to meet future mobility, safety, and accessible transportation objectives, we have to reverse this recent trend in order to reach our common goal – zero deaths on our roadways. The Office of Traffic Safety and the Glendale Police Department want to work with everyone to create a culture of traffic safety across Glendale and the state.”
Activities that the grant will fund include:
- Educational presentations
- DUI checkpoints
- DUI saturation patrols
- Motorcycle safety enforcement
- Distracted driving enforcement
- Bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement
- Speed enforcement
- Warrant service operations targeting multiple DUI offenders
- Compilation of DUI “Hot Sheets,” identifying worst-of-the-worst DUI offenders
- Specialized DUI and drugged driving training such as Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), and Drug Recognition Evalua)
- Court “sting” operations to cite individuals driving from DUI court after ignoring their license suspension or revocation
- Stakeout operations to observe the “worst-of-the-worst” repeat DUI offender probationers with suspended or revoked driver licenses
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
