Nine area police departments have received $114,000 in state traffic safety grants that authorities will begin to use for additional holiday patrols that look for impaired driving.
The money comes from $2.5 million in federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration grant funding that is divvied up to localities for fiscal year 2020 by the state Office of Grants and Research.
According to Easthampton Police Sgt. Chad Alexander, whose department received $12,000, police can only use a set amount of awarded money during different “mobilizations.” Right now, $1,725 of the money Alexander’s department was given will be used through the New Year for its “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” enforcement that focuses on curbing impaired driving.
“The money puts an extra cruiser out on weekend evenings that will be out patrolling,” Alexander said. “The goal is not to really to be out here writing tickets and hammering the public but more to keep people safe.”
The extra cruiser, which will be out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in four to six-hour blocks of time, adds 46 hours of patrol time, he said. There are normally only three or four cruisers out at night, Alexander said.
Alexander said that out of all of the traffic stops the department made during the holiday season last year, only a handful resulted in fines or arrests as the rest were mostly warnings. The holiday season is a time where departments are short-staffed, he said, but also a time where people are increasingly likely to drive while impaired following parties.
“We want people who are impaired to get an Uber, a taxi or call someone for a ride,” Alexander said.
For the rest of 2020, Alexander said the remainder of the money will be used for other police efforts such as “Click It or Ticket,” which encourages the wearing of seat belts.
Of the other police departments that received traffic safety grant money, Amherst received $16,000, Belchertown received $12,000, Granby received $10,000, Hadley received $10,000, Holyoke received $16,000, Northampton received $14,000, South Hadley received $12,000 and Ware received $12,000.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.