Full Notification

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                    October 19, 2016       

CONTACT:  [Sergeant Ron Klein, Petaluma Police Department, 707-778-4596, [email protected]]

PETALUMA POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES GRANT FOR

SPECIAL TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND CRASH PREVENTION

The Petaluma Police Department has been awarded an $80,000 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.  The Petaluma 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.

The Petaluma Police Department recognizes the importance of maintaining a strong focus in the area of traffic education, awareness and enforcement. This grant from the Office of Traffic Safety will provide supplemental funding in order to enhance our proactive efforts in the area of traffic safety said Lieutenant Danny Fish.

After falling to a ten year low in 2010, the number of persons killed has climbed nearly 17% across the state with 3,176 killed in 2015 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  Particularly alarming is the six year rise in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities, along with the growing dangers of distracting technologies, and the emergence of drug-impaired driving as a major problem. Petaluma alone has had 3 pedestrians killed in traffic collisions in 2016. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk driving, speeding and crashes at intersections.

“Years of research tell us that enforcement and education work best jointly to combat unsafe driving,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft.  “This grant brings both tactics together, with the Office of Traffic Safety and the Petaluma Police Department working in concert to help keep the streets and highways safe across Petaluma and the state.”

Activities that the grant will fund include:

• Educational presentations
• DUI checkpoints
• DUI saturation patrols
• Bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement
• 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
• 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
• 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.

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