- November 19, 2024
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The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is hoping local roads will now be safer, thanks to a grant to help enforce drunk-driving laws.
The county was notified Jan. 10 that it was the recipient of a three-year, $70,000 renewable grant, from the Florida Department of Transportation.
In its grant application, Commander Jeff Stuart of the Sheriff’s Office cited statistics that place Flagler County third out of 18 similarly sized counties with the highest number of alcohol-related fatality and injury crashes. Only two other counties had numbers greater than Flagler County.
“Over the past several years, there seems to have been an increase in the number of individuals driving under the influence of prescription medication, as well as alcohol,” said Sheriff James L. Manfre. “These funds will be used to increase the number of deputies patrolling our roadways and allow us to conduct periodic sobriety checkpoints around the county.”
The grant stipulates that the Sheriff’s Office will form a five-deputy DUI saturation team that will work an eight-hour, overtime shift on a biweekly basis and conduct quarterly sobriety checkpoints during the year. The grant also requires that the agency continue to educate the public and young drivers on the dangers of impaired driving.
The grant funds require no matching funds.
The agency will need to meet various requirements in order to qualify for funding in the next two years.
