The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has received several grants from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) totaling more than $257,000 to help with funding related to traffic enforcement.

MCSO was awarded a grant for overtime and equipment from the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) for aggressive driving detection enforcement and education. GOHS awarded $53,803 to the Sheriff’s Office that will be used to purchase state of the art speed detection equipment and fund overtime costs for Deputies to conduct selective enforcement throughout Maricopa County.

Deputies will utilize state of the art equipment installed in marked and unmarked patrol vehicles used within Maricopa County. The equipment being purchased will be EAGLE 3 directional RADAR speed detection devices. The speed detection devices offer front and rear scanning mode with faster processing for greater targeting range and improved target acquisition. The RADAR offers wireless speed sensing, which improves performance in poor weather.

During traffic contacts, deputies will educate the public of the dangers and consequences of speed violations, reckless and aggressive driving as part of their contact with drivers.

The MCSO Vehicular Crimes Unit received a grant award from the GOHS to assist with the investigation of fatal, life threatening and/or serious injury traffic collisions.

This grant is specifically intended to enhance the investigation of collisions involving impaired and/or speeding drivers. The grant awarded was for the sum of $56,103 and is to be used for overtime and training purposes. The grant will help target such crimes as DUI, aggravated DUI, endangerment, hit and run, aggravated assault, and vehicular homicide.

MCSO also received a GOHS grant to help with the enforcement of DUI laws, DUI equipment, drug recognition training, detention support for the task forces and youth alcohol enforcement and education.

This grant is in the amount of $117,136 and will help deputies and detention officers with overtime pay and equipment for next fiscal year while they work and support the East Valley and West Valley DUI task forces. The task forces run from Thanksgiving to New Years, and then most major holidays throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.

This grant will also help fund instructors to teach and certify new drug recognition experts from across the country throughout the year. Last year this grant helped fund 40 nights of Task Force operations, which resulted in 433 misdemeanor DUI arrests and 38 felony DUI arrests. Fifty-one of these drivers were impaired by drugs.

This Grant also helped with funding to train drug recognition experts from all over the State of Arizona and other states in the U.S. The DRE program aids in the detection and identification of drug impaired drivers, making the roadways safer not only in Arizona, but in states across the Country.

MCSO and its DREs are known throughout the country as a premier DRE program and training location, and with the help from this grant has assisted in the training and certification of DREs from Canada.

The MCSO Vehicular Crimes Unit received a second grant award from GOHS to locate and apprehend subjects with impaired driver-related warrants. The grant awarded was for the sum of $30,000 and will help target subjects with warrants related to DUI, Aggravated DUI, Endangerment, Aggravated Assault and Vehicular Homicide.

MCSO is the contract law enforcement provider for the Town of Fountain Hills.