August 2007 Issue
August 1, 2007
Dear Law Enforcement Colleague: Impaired driving continues to be one of North America’s greatest and most persistent threats to public safety. Impaired driving leads all causes of death for those persons ages 3 to 33 years old, regardless of race, gender, or any other factor. Our society is ready to support law enforcement’s lead role in ending this epidemic. Strong leadership is required to ensure that committed traffic enforcement is successful. Whether used as part of a community policing program or a crime prevention strategy, sustained enforcement of impaired driving laws demonstrates an agency’s commitment to the safety of the citizens they serve. It is critical that law enforcement leaders implement and prioritize activities aimed at reducing incidents of impaired driving and related crashes that can result in fatalities and disabling injuries. A clear and consistent message of support and encouragement for strengthened enforcement initiatives is imperative. The Division of State Associations of Chiefs of Police (SACOP) of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is fully engaged in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to bring you the information you need to implement effective, consistent, sustained enforcement in combating impaired driving. The Sustained Impaired Driving Enforcement publication is an initial offering to assist you in this task, with many resources and initiatives for your consideration. And, through NHTSA, we have also been able to provide your state association with funds to promote the implementation of consistent enforcement. Please check with your association’s executive director for more information on that assistance. The leadership of the Division fully believes that we can serve as a catalyst for change in our agencies, and the communities we serve. We invite you to join with us in prioritizing traffic law enforcement and using your leadership to make a difference in your agency and your community. Sincerely, Chief Yost Zakhary Woodway Public Safety Department, Texas SACOP General Chair
Resource:
Click here to review the Sustained Impaired Driving Enforcement publication.
April 13-15, 2008 LIFESAVERS 2008 NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HIGHWAY SAFETY PRIORITIES www.lifesaversconference.org Oregon Convention Center 777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR Lifesavers is the premier national highway safety meeting in the United States dedicated to reducing the tragic toll of deaths and injuries on our nation's roadways. In 2007, Lifesavers drew over 2,500 participants, with over 80 workshops and 150 exhibits. The conference addresses a wide range of safety topics, from child passenger safety and occupant protection to roadway and vehicle safety and technology. It offers the latest information on advances in highway safety, highlights successful programs and draws attention to emerging safety issues. Registration Fees: Early registration is $250 by February 29, 2008, and $375 after that date and on-site. Exhibit Fees: $500 per non-profit booth or $1,000 per booth for for-profit Registration forms and information will be available in early December on our website www.lifesaversconference.org. To be added to our mailing list, visit the website and click on “contact us.”
Tween Performers get ‘Pause to Click’ Message off to Rocking Start at Rock Hall (June 01 Contributed by Cuyahoga County Safe Communities)
Over two dozen middle schoolers from throughout Northeast Ohio participated in the first annual ‘Pause to Click’ multimedia contest which kicked off Rainbow Injury Prevention Center’s new tween passenger safety campaign. On the first Saturday in June, over one hundred fans, friends, and family as well as dozens of curious on-lookers gathered around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance area as twenty tween performers took over the Rock Hall stage to belt out pop tunes, dance, rap, and display their artwork and videos, all in an effort to spread the word about seatbelt safety. Though the call to action was unmistakable in all the finalists’ work, tween rappers Ryan Friedman and Langston Maxwell from Pepper Pike didn’t take any chances and came prepared to have their message heard loud and clear. Dressed in custom-designed t-shirts emblazoned with “Buckle Up For Safety”, they started off their highly energized performance yelling confidently into their microphones, “Attention! Attention! Kids all around the world aren’t buckling up every time they get in the car and it needs to stop!" Other performers came dressed in matching colorful outfits and even fans came with their own signs and banners to cheer on their favorite performers, adding to the multimedia mix of backing tracks, vocals, posters and videos. Ultimately, however, it was the duo of Noah Fromson and Melanie Adelstein, accompanied by nothing but Noah’s brother Brett on acoustic guitar, who stole the hearts of fans and judges with their simple, heart-felt message “It Only Takes One Second to Pause to Click”. Using seat belts is the single most effective means of preventing death or injury in a crash, yet three out of four Ohio children ages 9 to 14 killed in motor vehicle crashes are riding unrestrained. Safety campaigns tend to focus on infants and toddlers or on teens, leaving out all the kids in between. Rainbow Injury Prevention Center, is filling that gap with a campaign specially designed to target tweens, using messages and media that will get more kids buckling up and ‘click’ with tweens. The two biggest influences on kids in this age group are parents and peers,” explains Kathryn Wesolowski, Program Manager of the Rainbow Injury Prevention Center. “The Pause to Click campaign focuses on both, reminding parents that their kids still listen to them, even when they seem more interested in turning on their MP3 players and video games, and by challenging kids to create messages encouraging their peers to buckle up.” Top winners in the contests were chosen in each category—song, video and poster—by a panel of judges which included a peer judge as well as representatives from the law enforcement, art, music and public health communities. All performances in each category were rated based on the quality of the message, originality and overall performance or visual style. Grand prize winners receive star treatment, including a limo ride to Lava Room Recording Studios, where each student will polish their entries for the public. First place winners also received a $1,000 savings bond and Kohl’s gift card. Additionally, the winning song will play on 96.5 KISS-FM, the winning video/PSA will air on Nickelodeon, and the winning poster will show on the big screen as part of movie previews at local theaters this summer. Second and third place winners in each category received savings bonds and Kohl’s gift cards. Grand prize winners’ schools also received a $500 prize. Click Here to view slideshow from the event.
Cuyahoga County SRAD/DUI Reduction Task Force # 1 Since 2004 for three consecutive years, Cuyahoga County Speed, Reckless and Aggressive Driving/DUI Reduction Task Force (SRAD/DUI) led by Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital has placed first in the multi-jurisdictional category of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) National Law Enforcement Challenge. The only finalist from Ohio, they tied for first place with the Smooth Operator Program represented by DC, MD, and VA. IACP Challenge Coordinator Robert Wall stated, “This program highlighted the tremendous contributions that the nation’s law enforcement agencies have made to promote highway safety. Your task force’s commitment to this program has made a difference, not only in your community but the nation as well.” Cuyahoga County, once noted by the Ohio Department of Public Safety as one of Ohio’s top 10 problem areas for alcohol-related crashes, achieved success through the collaborative efforts of NHTSA, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, and the Ohio Governor’s Highway Safety Office in the formation of the Cuyahoga SRAD/DUI Task Force. Created in 1999, the Cuyahoga County SRAD/DUI Task Force has successfully engaged its 45 law enforcement agency membership in a true cooperative effort to reducing alcohol-related crashes, which has brought them national recognition for their 44 percentage rate reduction in alcohol-related crashes from 1994 to 2003. To learn more email Cuyahoga County SRAD/DUI. Cuyahoga County SRAD/DUI was part of a report, Creating Impaired Driving General Deterrence: Eight Case Studies of Sustained, High-Visibility, Impaired-Driving Enforcement, which can be downloaded in PDF format. Cornell Police Win Traffic Safety Award (April 13) The New York State Law Enforcement Challenge Award went to the Cornell Police Department for the second year in a row. Winning the law enforcement challenge award for police agencies employing 26 to 50 officers automatically qualifies them as a candidate for the national Law Enforcement Challenge sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Successful efforts in safety belt, child safety seat checks, speeding and impaired driving enforcement policies, demonstrations and brochures at key university events were attributed to their strong and consistent dedication to traffic safety. MADD Announces Winners of 5th Annual National MADD Media Awards (June 7) Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) celebrated its 5th Annual National MADD Media Awards by presenting 20 awards to organizations nationwide. In his speech, Glynn Birch MADD national president stated “This awards program is MADD’s way of thanking the media for its support of MADD’s mission.” Top honors went to NBC Today Show for broadcast media and The Santa Fe New Mexican for print media. Awards went to:
Self Replicating Minimal Bike Skills Event Oregon Safe Communities have been busy with learning opportunities that are easy to duplicate and require minimal effort. A Bike Rodeo with prepared kits that include materials for making fun banners for bike parades and low cost helmets for sale. The Rodeos are interactive with a bike parade, skills training, and helmets that are of various sizes (color coded by size) for only $5 - color coding eliminates the problem of children wanting different colors - and instructors provide learning opportunities with bike skills and safety training to the visitors at the park. Many state parks have bike trails and during the summer, this is an easy project with minimum cost.
SC TRAINING
On May 15-17, the first pilot course of the revised Safe Communities Training Workshop was held in Fort Worth, TX at the AmeriSuites Historical Stockyards Hotel. Seasoned practitioners attended this pilot course with experience ranging from 3 to 25 years in coalition building, grants management, program management, and law enforcement. The main focus of the course was to have the practitioners review the revised content delivered by the Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) and NHTSA instructors. After each module, the practitioners were asked to critique the lesson content, and then on the last day, they were debriefed on the entire course for content strengths and weaknesses to allow for further edits and updates to the content. Once the modules are complete, the location for the second pilot course will be scheduled. For further information on the Safe Communities Training Workshop, contact Judy Hammond at judy.hammond@dot.gov or safe.communities@dot.gov
STIPDA Announces Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Mini-Grant Recipients (May 23) Funded by the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an expert panel awarded 6 of 50 applicants the SRTS mini-grants after conducting a formal review. These awards are for the completion of SRTS community activities with the mini-grants worth $12,500 to $15,500. The awardees are:
Walk to School (August 7) In the US, Walk to School Day will be held on October 3, 2007, and will promote safe walking and bicycling throughout the year. This event highlights the importance of enhancing the physical health of youth, improving the air quality and the environment and creating safer routes for walking and bicycling to school. To get involved, visit www.walktoschool-usa.org or www.saferoutesinfo.org. Parents are a Car’s Safety Feature - What a Concept! The Automotive Coalitions for Traffic Safety (ACTS) worked with Marketing for Change, a social marketing and research firm, to conduct the first national research with parents on the issue of child passenger safety. The study included surveys that inspired the development of marketing materials such as brochures and an interactive web site. The focus of this study is parental supervision over very small children in need of a higher level of monitoring in and around motor vehicles. The survey reveled that 9 out of 10 parents reported close supervision of younger children that included not leaving them unattended in the car, restraint of children around cars in driveways and parking lots, to even paying with a credit card/debit card at the gas pump so that children are not unattended. To learn more about this study and available tools, visit www.SafetyFeature.org. NHTSA’s Safe Communities Service Center is looking for Coalition Success Stories Throughout history, the passing of information has been through story telling. Families and communities have lived on as their historical events have translated into road maps of great works and examples for others to follow. The Safe Communities Service Center wants you to share your coalitions success stories with us so that your story can be shared with our nationwide audience. Examples of types of stories are we looking for:
These are only a few examples of what we are looking for. Send your stories to us at safe.communities@dot.gov or fax them to the Safe Communities Service Center at (817) 978.8339. The report below is an example of a success story with data and outcomes. Safer Reports Year-End Progress Contributed by Traffic Safety News NMDOT-Traffic Safety Bureau During FY 2005-2006, funded by New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) Traffic Safety Bureau occupant protection program, Safer New Mexico Now (Safer) provided support for 47 car seat clinics throughout New Mexico. Technicians inspected 1,007 child safety seats and distributed 418 new replacement seats. Additionally, Safer supported 60 fitting station events in eight locations statewide. Through these fitting stations, technicians inspected 724 child safety seats and replaced 275 sets. Year-to-date, 1,763 child safety seats have been inspected and 715 seats have been replaced. Since October 1, 2005, Safer has conducted four National Standardized Child Passenger Safety (CPS) 32-hour Technical Training classes (training eighty-one technicians), six four-hour Child Passenger (CPS) trainings, and one National Standardized CPS Certification Renewal Course. People from six counties attended the Certification Renewal Course. Safer continues to manage the New Mexico Car Seat Distribution Program (NMCSDP) on behalf of the NMDOT Traffic Safety Bureau. Since October 1, 2005, NMCSDP sites have distributed 1,104 child safety seats to low income families throughout the State. For more information about CPS programs, please call Safer at (800) 231-6145 or visit www.safernm.org. It’s Time to Update your Coalitions Contact Information Every year the Safe Communities Service Center updates its coalition database and that time is here again. Have you added a new contact person, changed your address or phone number? Has your coalition or agency merged with another organization but are still using the Safe Communities model for traffic injury prevention? If so, then we need to get this information from you so that we can keep you abreast of current and future traffic-related happenings. Information we collect: (copy and paste this list into the body of your email)
Please email information to safe.communities@dot.gov. Become a Safe Communities On-line Newsletter Contributor Sometimes it’s just plain hard to get a story when your staff is small (very small) and you have to dig, beg, and borrow existing story lines. The Service Center is inviting you to submit your traffic-related injury prevention stories for review and posting for the upcoming releases in September and December. We would love to hear from you and share your story in our national Safe Communities On-line Newsletter. Call for more information or submit your story to Dezzie Dickson at (817) 978-3614 or email safe.communities@dot.gov. DRUNK DRIVING. OVER THE LIMIT. UNDER ARREST. Coming Soon!
PSA All of us are subject to personal and professional failing and the level of one's position provides no guarantee of exclusion from life's wrath for noncompliance. View this chilling story as told by New Jersey's Gov Corzine in this public service announcement on safety belts. Click Here to see and hear his compelling story. National Bike Month Celebrated 50 Years! The month of May was National Bicycle Month and many web sites featured information for use by organizations and communities. The information provided below is useful for planning your 2008 Bicycle Month events.
Contact safe.communities@dot.gov for additional information.
