Release Date/Time: 10/4/2015 10:52 AM
Incident: Avoid the 20 Grant Award
Report #: N/A
Date: Sunday, 10/4/2015
Time: 10:51 AM
Location: 222 Lincoln Ave
THE SALINAS POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES GRANT FOR COUNTY-WIDE DUI ENFORCEMENT CAMPAIGN
Drunk and drugged driving remains the number one killer on our roadways, with 1,197 alcohol involved deaths and over 23,000 injuries reported statewide in 2013. The 'Avoid the 20” DUI Task Force will be combating this deadly problem through DUI enforcement efforts in Monterey and San Benito Counties. The Salinas Police Department will be administering a recent $257,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety for both counties. Salinas has received this grant for the last 15 years. The amount of the grant this year is over 28 percent more than last year's grant.
Chief of Police Kelly McMillin said, "While awareness of driving while intoxicated has increased over the years, we still suffer far too many injuries and fatalities as a result of impaired driving. To those who drink responsibly and use designated drivers, we thank you. To those who chose to drive while drunk or high, understand that the Avoid the 20 Team will be looking for you and will do everything necessary to ensure the safety of our motoring public. Please don't drink and drive."
The 'Avoid the 20” DUI Task Force is named to send the message that if you don't drink or use drugs and drive, you will avoid getting arrested by any of the 20 participating law enforcement agencies in the two counties. The grant activities will specifically target those who get behind the wheel after drinking too much or using drugs that impair driving. Officers from law enforcement agencies across both counties will jointly staff DUI/Driver License Checkpoints and roving DUI saturation patrols. Additionally, funding will target the ‘worst of the worst' repeat DUI offenders with Warrant/Probation Sweeps and Court Sting Enforcement Operations focusing on DUI offenders with suspend licenses who drive from court hearings after being ordered not to by a judge.
'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 Avoid DUI Task Force want to work with everyone to create a culture of traffic safety across Monterey and San Benito Counties and throughout State.”
Motorists can expect to see special DUI campaigns during the winter and summer holiday periods as well as on Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo and during local special events with identified DUI Problems. Funding for the grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Agencies participating in the ‘Avoid the 20' taskforce include:
The Salinas Police Department
The Monterey County Sheriff's Office
The Monterey Office of the California Highway Patrol
The Gilroy Office of the California Highway Patrol
The Hollister Police Department
The San Benito County Sheriff's Office
The Marina Police Department The Monterey Police Department
The Seaside Police Department
The Carmel Police Department
The Pacific Grove Police Department
The Del Rey Oaks Police Department
The Sand City Police Department
The Monterey Airport Police
The California State University Police CSUMB
The King City Police Department
The Greenfield Police Department
The Soledad Police Department
The Gonzales Police Department
The Presidio of Monterey Police
Release Authorized by: Gerard Ross
Telephone: (831) 758-7250