Downey Police Department awarded $270k traffic safety grant

The Downey Police Department was awarded a $270,000 state grant for increased traffic safety efforts in the city, authorities announced Tuesday.

“Impairment, speeding and other dangerous driving behaviors jeopardize the safety of other people on the road,” Downey police Chief Dean Milligan said in a statement. “This funding allows us to provide necessary traffic enforcement measures with the goal of reducing serious injury and fatal crashes on our roads.”

The grant will pay for additional enforcement measures, including:

• DUI checkpoints and patrols specifically focused on suspected impaired drivers;
• enforcement operations focused on suspected distracted drivers in violation of California’s hands-free cell phone law;
• bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement operations focused on driver behaviors that put vulnerable road users at risk;
• enforcement operations focused on violations that cause crashes, including speeding, failure to yield, stop sign and/or red-light running, and improper turning or lane changes;
• community education presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, DUI, speeding, and bicycle and pedestrian safety; and
• officer training and/or recertification.

The grant program will run through September 2022.

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