Monrovia PD Receives $80K Grant

The grant will help Monrovia PD reach more people in the community. – Courtesy photo / Facebook, @MonroviaPoliceDepartment

Originally posted Oct. 30 @9:43 a.m. / Last updated Oct. 31 @3:55 p.m.

The Monrovia Police Department announced on Oct. 29 that it was awarded an $80,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long enforcement and public awareness program. The traffic safety program is intended to educate the public on safe roadway habits and deter people from violating traffic laws or practicing other unsafe behaviors that lead to injuries and fatalities.

Chief of Police Alan Sanvictores said of the grant: “Traffic safety is one of the priorities of the Monrovia Police Department. As in previous years, the awarding of the Traffic Education and Enforcement Grant will help us continue our mission of ensuring a safe community for drivers and pedestrians.”

“Our goal is to maintain Monrovia’s status of having zero traffic related fatalities,” said Captain Robert Wilken of the Monrovia Police Department. Wilken is in charge of Police Services for the department.

The grant money will help the department fulfill their mission of “improving the quality of life in [the] community” and of “[maintaining] highly capable guardians of the community” through “education, training and future planning.” The grant from OTS will fund various education and enforcement activities for the 2019 federal fiscal year (which runs from Oct. 1, 2018 to Sept. 30, 2019) such as:

• DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols to take suspected alcohol/drug-impaired drivers – and those unlicensed or with a revoked/suspended license – off the road.
• Traffic safety education presentations for youth and community members on distracted, impaired and teen driving, and bicycle/pedestrian safety.
• Patrols at intersections with increased incidents of pedestrian and bike collisions.
• Checking for seat belt and child safety seat compliance.
• Motorcycle safety operations in areas with high rider volume and where higher rate of motorcycle crashes occur.
• Speeding, red light and stop sign enforcement.
• Warrant service operations targeting multiple DUI offenders.
• Compilation of DUI “Hot Sheets” identifying repeat DUI offenders.
• Probation supervision for high-risk DUI offenders.
• Specialized DUI and drugged driving training to identify and apprehend suspected impaired drivers.
• Court “stings” to cite individuals driving from DUI court after license suspension or revocation.

In 2016, 3,623 people were killed in crashes across the state, a seven percent increase from 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Particularly alarming is the rise in pedestrian deaths, with 867 pedestrians killed on California roadways in 2016, a nearly 33 percent increase from 2012. According to a report by AAA, there were 337 hit-and-run crashes in California in 2016, a 60 percent increase from 2009. On a per capita basis, the state ranks seventh nationally for hit-and-run crashes. According to this same report nearly 65 percent of people killed in hit-and-run crashes were pedestrians and bicyclists, making this a growing traffic safety challenge for police departments everywhere. Along with the growing dangers of distracting technologies like phones and drug-impaired driving, this grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these dangerous and illegal behaviors.

“Almost all crashes are preventable,” OTS director Rhonda Craft said. “Education and enforcement go hand in hand helping change behaviors that cause devastating crashes.”

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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