OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT

NEWS RELEASE

INCIDENT:	Oxnard Police Department Receives Grant for Special Traffic Enforcement and Crash Prevention
DATE/TIME:	November 3, 2016, 12:15 p.m.
LOCATION:	City of Oxnard
PREPARED BY:	Ricardo Vazquez, Traffic Sergeant, (805) 385-7847 ricardo.vazquez@oxnardpd.org
CONTACT PERSON & CONTACT INFO:	Jamie Brown, Traffic Senior Officer   (805) 385-7749 jamie.brown@oxnardpd.org

DETAILS:
 

The Oxnard Police Department has been awarded a $330,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long program of special enforcements and public awareness efforts to prevent traffic-related deaths and injuries.  The Oxnard Police Department will use the funding as part of the city’s ongoing commitment to keep our roadways safe and improve the quality of life through both enforcement and education.
 
Oxnard Police Chief Scott Whitney commented that “OTS grant funding will assist us in achieving our department’s goal of reducing the total number of collisions which would result in a reduction of injuries and fatalities.”  Chief Whitney added that he “was grateful for the support from OTS in achieving our mutual goal of making our roadways safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists through continued focus on enforcement and education on distracted driving, drunk and drugged driving, and speed and seat belt compliance.”    
 
After falling to a ten-year low in 2010, the number of persons killed has climbed nearly 17% across the state with 3,176 killed in 2015 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  Particularly alarming is the six-year rise in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities, along with the growing dangers of distracting technologies, and the emergence of drug-impaired driving as a major problem. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk driving, speeding, and crashes at intersections.
“Years of research tell us that enforcement and education work best jointly to combat unsafe driving,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft.  “This grant brings both tactics together, with the Office of Traffic Safety and the Oxnard Police Department working in concert to help keep the streets and highways safe across Oxnard and the state.”
 
Activities that the grant will fund include:
•           Educational presentations
•           DUI checkpoints
•           DUI saturation patrols
•           Bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement
•           Motorcycle safety enforcement
•           Distracted driving enforcement
•           Seat belt and child safety seat enforcement
•           Speed, red light, and stop sign enforcement
•           Warrant service operations targeting multiple DUI offenders
•           Compilation of DUI “Hot Sheets,” identifying worst-of-the-worst DUI offenders
•           Specialized DUI and drugged driving training such as Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), and Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE)
•           Court “sting” operations to cite individuals driving from DUI court after ignoring their license suspension or revocation
•           Stakeout operations to observe the “worst-of-the-worst” repeat DUI offender probationers with suspended or revoked driver licenses
 
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.