Full Notification

The Folsom Police Department  Awarded Two Grants Totaling $77,500 From the OTS
                                               
Folsom, Calif. – The Folsom Police Department is awarded two grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).
 
The safety of everyone traveling is the focus of a grant awarded to the Folsom Police Department. The $52,500 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) will assist in the Folsom Police Department’s efforts to reduce deaths and injuries on Folsom’s roads.
 
“These are trying times, and now more than ever, it is important that we are at the forefront of traffic safety.” Folsom Police Department, Sergeant Eric Baade said. “This funding allows us to educate and enhance the safety of all residents.”
 
The grant will fund a variety of traffic safety programs, including:

• Patrols with emphasis on alcohol and drug-impaired driving prevention.
• Patrols with emphasis on awareness and education of California’s hands-free cell phone law.
• Patrols with emphasis on education of traffic rights for bicyclists and pedestrians.
• Patrols with emphasis on awareness and education of primary causes of crashes: excess speed, failure to yield, failure to stop at stop signs/signals, improper turning/lane changes.

• Community education presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, DUI, speed, bicycle and pedestrian safety.
• Collaborative efforts with neighboring agencies on traffic safety priorities.
• Officer training and/or recertification: Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).

 
“Through education and behavior changes, we hope to create an environment that is safe and equitable for all road users in our community,” Sergeant Baade.
 

A second grant was awarded to Folsom Police Department for $25,000 from OTS to streamline processes to collect and report traffic date.
 
“Accurate and timely data is critical to the safety of our roads,” Folsom Police Department, Sergeant Eric Baade said. “This funding will help paint a clearer picture of our biggest traffic safety issues.”
 
“This program is new for 2021 and is an effort to improve how quickly crash data is collected and reported,” OTS Director Barbara Rooney said. “High quality safety data is critical. It’s used to determine the nature of our road safety problems and it informs our actions in how best to address them. We are happy to provide local agencies with the necessary tools to develop or enhance their electronic traffic reporting systems.”
 
Grant funds will be used to:

• Develop a new, or update an existing, electronic crash reporting system with software that is able to submit data to the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS).
• Develop an electronic citation system.

 
These grant programs run from Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021.
 
Funding for these programs were provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.