Sheriff’s Office gets $48K state grant

VW independent staff/submitted information

The Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office is getting a financial boost from the state to help with traffic enforcement efforts.

A grant of $46,836.20 is coming from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office and is one of 164 grants awarded to 135 agencies in 62 counties to support the efforts of safety partners statewide and focus on traffic safety priority areas, including impaired driving, seat belt usage, distracted driving, youthful driving, and motorcycle safety. The local grant will be used toward impaired driving and selective traffic enforcement.

Programs that will be funded with traffic safety grants include:

• Statewide Programming ($13.2 million) – 31 grants were awarded to agencies to conduct education, enforcement, and awareness initiatives statewide to address traffic safety related priority areas.
• Impaired Driving Enforcement and Selective Traffic Enforcement Program ($4,6 million) – 78 grants were awarded to 48 sheriff’s offices and 30 police departments for overtime hours used to reduce traffic-related fatal crashes that involve impaired driving via alcohol or drugs, seat belt usage, speed, aggressive driving, motorcycles, and failure to yield.
• Dedicated Traffic Enforcement Program ($148,903) – two grants were awarded to one sheriff’s office and one police department for a pilot program to help fund a dedicated traffic enforcement officer to reduce traffic-related fatal crashes that involve impaired driving via alcohol or drugs, seat belt usage, speed, aggressive driving, motorcycles and failure to yield. This pilot is intended to help fund the salary and limited other items of the dedicated officer in a step-down manner (100 percent the first year, 50 percent the second year, 25 percent third year) as the agency absorbs the cost.
• Countywide OVI Task Forces ($2.8 million) – 12 grants were awarded to agencies to conduct countywide high visibility enforcement, public awareness, and impaired driving initiatives.
• Safe Community programs ($2.1 million) – 41 countywide grants were awarded to communities to address traffic safety issues that involve impaired driving via alcohol or drugs, seat belt usage, distracted driving, youthful driving, and motorcycles. Ohio’s Safe Communities network uses local coalitions to deliver traffic safety messages and programs throughout the year at the local level.

“Last year more than half of Ohio’s fatal crashes were OVI-related, so impaired driving education, prevention, and enforcement campaigns are going to be more important than ever,” said Emily Davidson, OTSO director. “We must continue to keep making progress in saving lives on our roads, and prevent more families from experiencing the tragedy of losing a loved one to an impaired-driving crash.”

The FFY 2024 competitive grant process solicited grant proposals from state agencies, non-profit organizations, colleges, universities, hospitals, political subdivisions, and other interested groups within selected Ohio counties and jurisdictions based upon the number of fatal crashes.