DOWNEY - The Los Angeles County Probation Department, which has its offices in Downey, has been awarded a new traffic safety grant for a year-long anti-DUI program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on roadways.Additional enforcement measures to combat impaired driving are coming as a result of the $265,000 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety. "We are extremely pleased to receive this traffic safety grant," said chief probation officer Donald H. Blevins. "The benefit of this program will be increased public safety. Saving lives and preventing serious injury is the highest outcome that we can achieve." The grant is called the Intensive Probation Supervision for High-Risk Felony and Repeat DUI Offenders grant and focuses on monitoring people on probation for felony DUI and multiple misdemeanor DUI convictions. Supervision for high-risk DUI offenders will include unannounced home searches, random alcohol and drug testing and monitoring to ensure compliance with court-ordered DUI education and treatment programs. The Probation Department will also collaborate with local law enforcement agencies to conduct DUI and driver license checkpoints. They will also target people who fail to make court appearances after DUI arrests. Drunk driving is one of the nation's deadliest crimes. In 2009, more than 10,830 people died in highway crashes involving a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher. California data for 2009 shows that 950 died in alcohol impaired collisions, a 7.6% reduction in deaths from 2008. Funding for the program comes from the Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

********** Published: November 18, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 31