Santa Clarita Sheriff’s department Sergeant Rich Cohen wants drivers to know that driving is a privilege, not a right and to treat it as such. He takes his job in the traffic unit very seriously after witnessing 23 years of crimes in the Santa Clarita Valley. His outlook, the efforts of ongoing grant money to enforce DUI arrests and the diligence of the officers on the streets are making a difference in the community, according to Cohen.
“We are making an impact with our DUI checkpoints and the efforts of committed deputies who are constantly monitoring road and driver activity,” says Cohen.
Nearly half a million dollars in grant money will be used over the next two years to implement ongoing DUI enforcement and the Traffic Safety Program in Santa Clarita. This after 52 alcohol-involved fatal and injury collisions last year and 367 DUI arrests in the area.
“When more people drive sober and safely, we save lives, families, and heartache,” says Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety, “This grant will help make Santa Clarita just that much safer of a place to live and work.”
The $393,936 grant is provided through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and will provide for new equipment purchases and increased special traffic enforcement on the streets of Santa Clarita. Watch for monthly DUI checkpoints, a newly-formed DUI warrant service patrol, stakeout operations concentrating on repeat DUI offenders who are on probation, teen safety driving programs among numerous other traffic safety programs.
“When two motorists collide on the road, the bodies go through trauma that is worse than I’ve ever witnessed at the scene of a homicide,” says Cohen.
With the ongoing grant money, the dedication of police officers and an educated responsible public, the numbers of DUI driving fatalities is bound to decline.