SPEED receives 50K Grant

  • Published
  • Lowndes County Sheriff's Office
VALDOSTA, Ga. --  The Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) and the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office will team up to kick off the first day of the Christmas Operation Zero-Tolerance campaign Dec. 14 and will continue until Jan. 1, 2013.

At 9 a.m., Sheriff Chris Prine will present the Sheriff's Patrol to Enforce Effective Driving (SPEED) team with $50,000 worth of equipment. The law enforcement tools will be on display and demonstrated for video and still photography. The tools will consist of 10 portable breath testers, 10 two-piece window tint meters, 10 flashlights, four in-car cameras, three radars, three different brands of lasers. The display will be in the squad room of the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office at 120 Prison Farm Road Valdosta, Ga. 31601.

On April 1, 2012, Prine created SPEED, and since then has provided the citizens with 10 deputies and patrol cars to enforce traffic safety.

On Oct. 1, 2012, the GOHS awarded the $50,000 Innovation Grant to Lowndes County to support the efforts of SPEED.

SPEED consists of one supervisor, four traffic units, four School Resource Officers, and two reserve deputies. They will be certified in DUI detection, standard field sobriety testing, radar, child passenger safety technician laser, parents reducing injuries and driving errors, forensic breath test machines, and Alcohol Drug Awareness Program.

The primary tool that Prine and SPEED use to reduce fatalities, injuries, crashes and arrests (FICA) is data-driven approaches to crime and traffic safety. This unique principle, directs all patrols to enforce traffic safety in high crash and high crime rate areas.

Last year Lowndes County suffered an alarming 19 traffic fatalities. This year, Prine was committed to reducing FICA. As of Dec. 7, there has been nine fatalities. This is a 47percent fatality reduction in Lowndes County between the total in 2011 and the total of 2012 so far. The state of Georgia fatality rate has currently increased 7 percent compared to the same day as last year.