By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Ceres Police snags $60,000 state grant to make roads a safer place
• Checkpoints, enforcement part of grant stipulation
Ceres Police logo

The Ceres Police Department will roll out a police traffic services program to deter dangerous and illegal driving behaviors that increase the risk of crashes in the community.

The program is being funded by a $60,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“Impairment, speeding and other dangerous driving behaviors jeopardize the safety of other people on the road,” said Ceres Police Department Traffic Officer Freddie Ortiz. “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 top violations that cause crashes: speeding, failure to yield, stop sign and/or red-light running, and improper turning or lane changes.

In addition the funds will pay for community education presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, DUI, speeding, and bicycle and pedestrian safety. It will also fund officer training and/or recertification to conduct Standard Field Sobriety Tests (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).

The grant program will run through September 2022.