Sheriff's Office Receives DUI Grant

Staff Report

CUMMING, GA -- The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has announced that the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office is one of 17 law enforcement agencies in Georgia to receive a Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic grant for the 2015 grant season. Referred to as a H.E.A.T. grant, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office’s award totals $38,400.

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 Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office 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.

“Agencies like the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office receive this H.E.A.T. grant because they have showed a particular dedication to protecting their citizens from impaired drivers,” said GOHS Director Harris Blackwood. “This dedication is crucial because alcohol-related crash deaths still account for 25 percent of traffic fatalities in Georgia. We are grateful to Sheriff Duane Piper and his staff for their continued hard work.”

Totaling $3.2 million for 2015, H.E.A.T. grants fund specialize 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.

“The H.E.A.T. Project aims to increase the impaired driver apprehension rate. H.E.A.T. Units like ours help accomplish that goal through the systematic delivery of effective DUI and aggressive driving countermeasures and by providing a higher traffic enforcement profile in the community,” said Sheriff Duane Piper.

As law enforcement partners in the Operation Zero Tolerance DUI and Click It Or Ticket seatbelt campaigns, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office will also conduct mobilizations throughout the year in coordination with GOHS’s year-round waves of high visibility patrols, multi-jurisdictional road checks 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.