County sees positive impact from traffic enforcement initiative
Published 11:11 pm Friday, September 5, 2008
More than 130 citations were issued and five people were arrested during the Covington County Sheriff’s Office two-week selective traffic enforcement initiative held during the Labor Day holiday.
Chief Deputy David Anderson said the initiative ended Monday, and a total of 136 contacts were made by 10 deputies in every part of the county.
The department’s actions were achieved through the participation in a traffic enforcement grant provided to the department by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), administered through the Southeast Alabama Regional Traffic and Safety Division. The grant covered the expense of overtime for the deputies.
“During the course of the grant, deputies with the sheriff’s office were out in force over the two weeks focusing mainly on traffic related issues,” Anderson said.
“Our deputies were out looking beyond regular traffic infractions,” he said. “We were checking everything — whether or not the person had a valid driver’s license and insurance, if they were wanted for a crime and things of that nature.”
Over the course of the period, Anderson said deputies logged:
two DUI arrests.
three seat belt violations.
one child restraint violation.
72 speeding tickets.
three felony drug arrests.
two misdemeanor drug arrests.
15 other infractions including no proof of insurance, driving while license suspended or revoked, etc.
26 warning tickets for speeding.
12 other warning citations.
“Overall, I’d have to say the event was a success,” Anderson said. “We got three drug dealers off the streets and two drunk drivers off the road and slowed a lot of people down.
“Holidays are the time of year when there are a lot of drivers on the road,” he said. “Thanks to this grant, our deputies were able to devote extra time to keeping our roadways safe.”