The Georgia GOHS (Governor’s Office of Highway Safety) has announced that the Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) is one of 26 law enforcement agencies in Georgia to receive a Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (H.E.A.T.) grant.
The HCSO H.E.A.T Unit will use the $127,505 GOHS grant to develop and implement strategies to reduce local traffic crashes due to aggressive and dangerous driving behaviors.
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.
“Crash data shows enforcement and education of traffic laws are two of most effective countermeasures to help our state and nation reduce crashes and eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads,” said Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.
H.E.A.T. grants fund specialized 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.
“Not a day goes by where I don’t personally see one of our H.E.A.T. Unit deputies working to improve safety on the roadways in our community,” Sheriff Gerald Couch said. “From enforcement on our most heavily traveled corridors to education with our Traffic Tuesday social media campaign, the HCSO H.E.A.T. Unit always carries out its mission and will continue to do so in this grant cycle.”
As law enforcement partners in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over DUI campaign and the Click It Or Ticket seatbelt campaigns, the HCSO 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.