Full Notification

Nature of Incident: Thousand Oaks Police Department Grant Award
Location: Thousand Oaks
Date & Time: November 5, 2014
Unit Responsible: Thousand Oaks Police Department Traffic Bureau

Narrative:

The Thousand Oaks Police Department has been awarded a $179,000 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 Thousand Oaks 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.

“This grant will allow us to use additional resources where traffic enforcement is needed most. We are looking forward to improving the safety of the city’s motoring public through this valuable resource,” said Thousand Oaks Police Captain Jim Fryhoff.

After falling dramatically between 2006 and 2010, the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions saw slight increases in 2011 and 2012. Particularly worrisome are recent increases in pedestrian and motorcycle fatalities and the dangers of distracting technologies. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk and drugged driving and speeding.

“California’s roadways are still among the safest in the nation,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. “But to meet future mobility, safety, and sustainability objectives, we must create safer roadways for all users. The Thousand Oaks Police Department will be using these and other resources to reach the vision we all share – Toward zero deaths, every 1 counts.”

Activities that the grant will fund include:
• Educational presentations
• DUI checkpoints
• DUI saturation patrols
• 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.

Prepared by: Sergeant Brad Clifton
Media Release Date: November 15, 2014
Follow-Up Contact: Sergeant Brad Clifton [email protected]
Approved by: Captain Jim Fryhoff