Impairment, speeding, and other dangerous driving behaviors threaten the safety of other people on the road, but with the right tools, officials can decrease the amount of serious injury and deaths on the road. With this in mind, the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awarded Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety, Petaluma and Santa Rosa Police Department with a grant totaling up to $414,000.

The purpose of this was to organize police traffic service programs to prevent dangerous and illegal behaviors that increase the risk of crashes in the community. Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety was given $64,000, Santa Rosa Police Department $300,000, and Petaluma Police Department $50,000. 

According to an interview with Patch.com, Tim Mattos, the police chief of Rohnert Park, disclosed, “I am thankful the Department of Public Safety has been able to partner with the Office of Traffic Safety in keeping our community safe. We have been able to allocate many hours of focused enforcement due to our continued relationship.”

The grant program will last until September 2022. The funding will go to reinforcing the laws that they have already put in place, which include suspected distracted drivers in violation of California’s hands-free cell phone law, bicycle and pedestrian safety targeting drivers who possess behaviors that put others at risk, and DUI patrols and checkpoints aimed at impaired drivers. They want to focus on top violations that result in crashes: failure to yield, improper turning or lane changes, running a red or stop light, and speeding. These focus more on educating the community about keeping yourself and the community safe. They want to hold community education presentations focusing on traffic safety issues which pertain to distracted driving, bicycle and pedestrian safety, speeding, and DUI. There will be office training and recertification for Drug Recognition Expert, Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement, and Standard Field Sobriety Test. Police departments want to collaborate more with their neighboring agencies to keep people safe.

Ken Savano, police chief of Petaluma police department reported to Patch, “When it comes to public safety, traffic crashes kill and injure more community members than all crimes combined. This grant funding will help our department improve public safety throughout the community. We are grateful to be awarded these traffic safety grant funds and for the continued support from Director Rooney and her staff at the Office of Traffic Safety.”

There have been many accidents on the road ranging from speeding to hit and run collisions. It is great to see that they are doing something about this recurring problem. In Santa Rosa Police Annual Report, as of 2020 there were 1,455 traffic collision reports processed. 

An anonymous local from Rohnert Park stated, “I would say I’m a pretty safe driver. I don’t text & drive, indicate when I need to change lanes and I’m always watching my speed! Sometimes I do tend to speed on the freeway but I will slow down when I notice I’m going too fast. I think for the most part people in Rohnert Park are safe drivers, but there’s been a few times when I’ve had people cut me off or tailgate me.” 

To be eligible for funding public entities, applications should include a priority program from their choices alcohol and drug impaired driving, emergency medical services, occupant protection, police traffic services etc. In addition, the application should be supported by local crash data that reveals a need for funding. 

Back in August, city council unanimously approved several measures related to law enforcement accountability and community relations with the Department of Public Safety. Rohnert Park will have a police auditor to review public safety investigations into civilian complaints. The measures being adopted included imposing a response model to increase crisis intervention, expanding training regarding explicit and implicit bias, and de-escalation, creating a community roundtable with a diverse group representing underrepresented minority groups,

Furthermore, the Department of Public Safety is constantly making changes to keep Rohnert Park a safe community.

Students at Sonoma State can look forward to living in a community that is actively receiving support to become safer for themselves and others.