"Thirty-Five to Save Lives"
Beginning December 10, 2012, through January 7, 2013, under the direction of Chief of Police Larry W. Tolliver, the Anne Arundel County Police Department will mobilize personnel in a comprehensive campaign designed to reduce crashes, injuries and deaths on Anne Arundel County roads. The plan will target predictive behaviors and crashes on roadways using a data driven, multi-disciplinary approach involving education, enforcement, and engineering, major components of highway safety.
The campaign, entitled, “Thirty-Five to Save Lives” refers to dedicating an officer for at least 30 minutes per shift to traffic enforcement targeting five specific behaviors in an effort to save the lives of motorists. The plan is consistent with the Maryland Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and will deploy officers to focus on the following five specific behaviors:
■Distracted driving
■Impaired driving
■Aggressive driving
■Pedestrian safety
■Speed enforcement
The ultimate goal of the enforcement plan is for motorists and pedestrians to voluntarily comply with rules of the road without the requirement for a continuous police presence. During the initiative, each Traffic Coordinator will compile a report consisting of roadways with the highest frequency of impaired driving, crime and crash data. District Commanders will direct enforcement activities within their district based on the roadways identified as having high frequency of crimes and/or crashes and each officer will be deployed to the identified location and provide targeted traffic enforcement for at least 30 minutes per duty day.
The plan calls for officers utilizing specific and general countermeasures in data supported sections of the County. Specific countermeasures include direct violator contact for violations of the motor vehicle law or Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR). The violator contact can also be used as an educational opportunity versus an enforcement action. The educational aspect of traffic safety is crucial to the motorist’s continued voluntary compliance with the rules of road. General countermeasures include the high visibility of officers taking enforcement actions.
