Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office awarded $63,450 grant for DUI enforcement

ATLANTA—The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has announced that the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office is one of 24 law enforcement agencies in Georgia to receive a Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic grant for the Federal 2024 Fiscal Year. Referred to as a H.E.A.T. grant, the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office’s award totals $63,450.00.

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.

The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office H.E.A.T Unit will use the grant from GOHS to develop and implement strategies to reduce local traffic crashes due to aggressive and dangerous driving behaviors.

“The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and our partners continue to implement programs designed to save lives and promote safe driving behaviors,” said Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “We can ask everyone to help our state and nation reach zero traffic deaths by driving safe speeds, always wearing a seat belt, keeping the focus on the road and not the phone, and never operating a vehicle under the influence of any substance that impairs your ability to drive.”

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.

As recipients of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety H.E.A.T grant, the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office has accepted the challenge to reduce the likelihood of accidents with serious bodily injuries and/or fatalities. As a five-time recipient of the HEAT grant, the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office is dedicated to protecting the motoring public from themselves and/or others.

The mission of the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO) HEAT Unit is to reduce crashes, fatalities, aggressive and impaired driving, and serious injuries through enhanced traffic enforcement initiatives. RCSO will use best practices, traffic data, and analytics to develop enforcement strategies and pinpoint hotspot areas; enhance traffic safety efforts; coordinate and participate in multijurlsdictional enforcement activities and facilitate and participate in traffic safety educational campaigns.

Rockdale Sheriff Eric J. Levett said that safety remains a top for the Sheriff’s Office and the RCSO HEAT unit will continue proactive measures to combat aggressive driving.

“If you intend on breaking traffic laws, expect to see blue lights in your rearview mirror,”  Sheriff Levett said.

As law enforcement partners in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over DUI campaign and the Click It Or Ticket seatbelt campaigns, the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office also will conduct mobilizations throughout the year in coordination with GOHS’s year-round waves of high visibility patrols, multi-jurisdictional road checks, and sobriety checkpoints.

For more information about the H.E.A.T. program or other GOHS campaign, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org or call 404-656-6996.