(Media release from the Floyd County Police Department):
The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has announced that the Floyd County Police Department is one of 21 law enforcement agencies in Georgia to receive a Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic grant for the Federal 2022 Fiscal Year. Referred to as a H.E.A.T. grant, Floyd County Police Department’s award totals $300,000.
The goal of the H.E.A.T. program is to combat crashes, injuries and fatalities caused by impaired driving and speeding, while also increasing seatbelt use and educating the public about traffic safety and the dangers of DUI. The Floyd County Police Department H.E.A.T Unit will use the grant from GOHS to develop and implement strategies to reduce local traffic crashes due to aggressive and dangerous driving behaviors.
“With the increase in the number of persons killed in traffic crashes in Georgia and across the nation over the last year, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is working with partners like the Floyd County Police Department to implement programs designed to stop the risky driving behaviors that are contributing to a majority of our serious-injury and fatality crashes,” said Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “Many of the fatal traffic crashes on our roads are preventable, and we will continue to work with our educational and enforcement partners to develop programs and initiatives that are designed to get Georgia to our goal of zero traffic deaths.”
H.E.A.T. grants fund specialized traffic enforcement units in counties throughout the state. The program was designed to assist Georgia jurisdictions with the highest rates of traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities with grants awarded based on impaired driving and speeding data.
“This has been a tragic year for fatalities on the roads of Floyd County. Our officers do excellent work with traffic enforcement, but we are excited to partner with GOHS and their network of agencies to get the extra boost of support that will bring our numbers down to zero,” said Chief Mark Wallace of Floyd County Police Department. “We look forward to a long future working with GOHS.”
As law enforcement partners in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” DUI campaign and the “Click It Or Ticket” seatbelt campaigns, the Floyd County Police Department will also conduct mobilizations throughout the year in coordination with GOHS’s year-round waves of high visibility patrols, multi-jurisdictional roadchecks and sobriety checkpoints.
For more information about the H.E.A.T. program or any other GOHS campaign, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org or call 404-656-6996.