MPD Awarded For Enforcement of Driving Laws

The Middletown Police Department was granted two awards  from the RI Department of Transportation Office on Highway Safety.

Middletown Officer Steven Ferreira  was  awarded the 2013 Highway Safety Champion Award. Officer Ferreira  was  chosen to receive the award based on his commitment to the enforcement and education of motorists on the use of seatbelts and child restraint systems.

The Middletown Police Department department received the 2013 Highway Safety Champion Award for outstanding achievements in highway safety enforcement activities. The award was based, in part, on an overall decrease in the number of speeding and impaired driving citations  issued while  at the same time seeing a decrease in these offenses. 

In 2010, MPD officers issued 1,151 speeding citations, in 2011 they issued 1,006 citations and in 2012 MPD officers issued 705 speeding citations. As the number of citations issued dropped, there was still a 56 percent reduction in motor vehicle accidents involving speed.

The department also demonstrated aggressive enforcement with impaired drivers. According to the RI State Department of Health, the Middletown Police Department is consistently in the top five departments in Rhode Island with impaired driving arrests. Since 2010, there has been a 31 percent reduction of alcohol related accidents.

Lastly, the Middletown Police Department has focused its energies on the enforcement of seatbelt and child seat citations.

The awards will be presented at the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Team Spirit Event on Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 10:30 AM in the Janikes Auditorium at Bryant College.