The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office was awarded the Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic grant for the Federal 2024 fiscal year.
Also known as the H.E.A.T. grant, the program aims to combat injuries and fatalities caused by impaired driving or speeding, increase seat belt usage, and educate the public about traffic safety and the dangers of driving under the influence.
The department was one of twenty-four law enforcement agencies to be granted the funds from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, receiving $341,518.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office H.E.A.T. Unit plans to use the funds to develop and implement strategies to reduce traffic crashes in the area due to aggressive 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,” Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said. “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 accidents, injuries and fatalities with grants awarded based on impaired driving and speeding data.
“Traffic concerns are one of our citizens’ most prevalent complaints,” Sheriff Ron Freeman said. “Keeping our citizens safe on our roadways is an incredibly important job for the FCSO. Grants such as this H.E.A.T. a grant from GOHS helps us do just that, keep our citizens safe, by helping us take dangerous drivers off our roads.”
As law enforcement partners in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over DUI and the Click It Or Ticket seat belt campaigns, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office also plans to 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 any other GOHS campaign, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org or call 404-656-6996.
