DeKalb Police awarded $43,000 H.E.A.T. Enforcement Grant

DEKALB COUNTY, GA– The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) has announced that the DeKalb County Police Department has received a Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic grant for the 2022 grant season. Referred to as the H.E.A.T. grant, the DeKalb County Police Department’s award totals $ $43,012.

The DeKalb County Police Department’s H.E.A.T. Unit will use the grant to develop and implement strategies to reduce local traffic crashes due to aggressive and dangerous driving behaviors.

“With the increase in the number of persons killed in traffic crashes in Georgia and across the nation over the last year, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is working with partners like Dekalb County Police Department to implement programs designed to stop the risky driving behaviors that are contributing to a majority of our serious-injury and fatality crashes,” said Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.  “Many of the fatal traffic crashes on our roads are preventable, and we will continue to work with our educational and enforcement partners to develop programs and initiatives that are designed to get Georgia to our goal of zero traffic deaths.”

The goal of the H.E.A.T. program is to reduce 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.

H.E.A.T. grant funds are used by 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 law enforcement partners in the Operation Zero Tolerance DUI and Click It or Ticket seatbelt campaigns, the DeKalb County Police Department 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.