CALIFORNIA - Long Beach gets safety grant!

OFF THE WIRE

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_19342951
Long Beach Police receive $300,000 traffic safety grant

Funds will increase patrols, special enforcement operations By Tracy Manzer Staff Writer Posted: 11/15/2011 05:19:49 PM PST Updated: 11/15/2011 05:19:50 PM PST
LONG BEACH -- The Long Beach Police Department has won a grant for more than a quarter of a million dollars to fund traffic safety enforcement programs and the increase of patrols, it was announced Tuesday. The $300,000 grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
It will be used to fund programs aimed at reducing the number of people killed in traffic incidents. The programs will include motorcycle safety patrols, DUI and Drivers License checkpoints, DUI saturation patrols, red light enforcement and speed enforcement, police officials said Tuesday.
"We are grateful to the Office of Traffic Safety for awarding us this grant, which will lend vital support towards commuter safety," Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell said. "In these fiscally challenging times, this will allow us to enhance our enforcement and outreach efforts to prevent and reduce injury traffic collisions and protect lives."
A key focus of the grant-funded programs will be DUI/Drivers License checkpoints, police officials said.
The checkpoints, which are highly visible and widely publicized, are meant to deter impaired driving rather than increase arrests, officials said.
Research shows crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And checkpoints have provided the most effective
- documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent, NHTSA leaders said. The grant will also fund the training of 10 officers on ways to detect drivers who are impaired and under the influence of legal and illegal drugs.
In addition, there will be four motorcycle safety enforcement operations, which are among a number of specialized enforcement efforts that will see extra officers on patrol and that are planned for the next 12 months.