ECPD awarded $50,000 safety grant
Police to use funding for traffic safety program
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - El Centro's city streets are about to get safer.
The El Centro Police Department (ECPD) will use a $50,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to implement a program to reduce dangerous and illegal driving practices.
Increased enforcement begins on November 1, and will run through the end of September 2022.
"Impairment, speeding, and other dangerous driving behaviors jeopardize the safety of other people on the road," said Sgt. John Tang. "This funding allows us to provide necessary traffic enforcement measures with the goal of reducing serious injury and fatal crashes on our roads."
ECPD will use the grant to pay for a number of additional enforcement measures, including:
- DUI checkpoints and increased patrols for impaired drivers
- Distracted driver operations, particularly focusing on California's hands-free cell phone law
- Bicycle and pedestrian safety operations
- Enforcement on the traffic violations that most frequently cause crashes like speeding, failure to yield, stop sign and red light running, and improper turning and lane changes
- Community education presentations
- Officer training and recertification
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provided the funding for the grant, and awarded it through the California Office of Traffic Safety.
