The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office was awarded a $652,000 traffic safety subgrant by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for impaired driving education and enforcement.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) 2019 Traffic Safety Facts Alcohol-Impaired Driving reported that Florida had a total of 3,183 traffic fatalities, the third highest of all states for that year. Of the 790 fatalities which occurred, 25% were alcohol-impaired-driving related.
The FDOT Operation Trident: Outreach Education and Enforcement Operation is designed to raise awareness about the dangers associated with impaired driving to decrease injuries and fatalities in Hillsborough County.
The grant will reimburse HCSO for overtime for deputies, as well as equipment
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$350,000.00 for overtime salary and benefits for law enforcement officers, benefits to include FICA (Social Security and Medicare), Retirement, and Workers Compensation
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$300,000.00 for the purchase of a BAT Impaired Driving Investigation Vehicle for program implementation
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$2,000.00 for Alcohol Impairment Goggles for program implementation
The operation will run through September 30, 2023.