Full Notification

PRESS RELEASE  - October 29, 2014

CONTACT: Lt. Sean Washington; 510-790-6969; [email protected]

FREMONT POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES GRANT FOR

SPECIAL TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND CRASH PREVENTION

Fremont Police Department has been awarded a $60,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long program of special enforcement and public awareness efforts to prevent traffic related deaths and injuries.

Fremont 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.

Fremont Police Chief Richard Lucero states, "The goal of reducing the level of harm associated with injury collisions is an objective shared by our entire department. We recognize collisions can cause extraordinary damage in the lives of families in our community. For this reason, we are grateful to be able to partner with the Office of Traffic Safety as a means of bringing together a variety of strategies to advance roadway safety."

After falling dramatically between 2006 and 2010, the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions saw slight increases in 2011 and 2012. Particularly worrisome are recent increases in pedestrian and motorcycle fatalities and the dangers of distracting technologies. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk and drugged driving and speeding.

"California’s roadways are still among the safest in the nation," said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. "But to meet future mobility, safety, and sustainability objectives, we must create safer roadways for all users. The Fremont Police Department will be using these and other resources to reach the vision we all share – Toward zero deaths, every 1 counts."

Activities that the grant will fund include:

• DUI checkpoints

• DUI saturation patrols

• 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 Evaluator (DRE)

• Court "sting" operations to cite individuals driving from DUI court after ignoring their license suspension or revocation

Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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