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Duluth Police Receive Georgia Highway Safety Grant

Operation Drive Smart continues statewide efforts to reduce teen accidents

DULUTH, Ga. — Duluth Police will continue to partner with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to combat teen driving deaths by taking their Operation Drive Smart program to fifteen Georgia High Schools across the state. The Police Department received a $38,800.00 GOHS grant, which provides funding for the Duluth Police COPS Division to travel and partner with schools and public safety agencies across the state to education students.

During the past several years the department has received more requests for programs than the funding and time within the school year allows. “Last year, we had to turn down three schools because we used up allowable funding within the grant” Lt. Bill Stevens. “It’s not for a lack of trying on our part; we completed 17 programs with some creative planning and logistics. We visited two schools back to back on a trip to south Georgia. For instance, last year three officers supported Ashburn Police at Turner County High School before joining other Duluth officers the following day at Cairo High School”. Since the program’s inception, over 100,000 Georgia teenagers have participated and each year over fourty-five public safety agencies partner in the effort to reduce teen crashes, injuries and deaths.

The C.O.P.S Division will be hosting the first 2010 Operation Drive Smart program for the students of Grayson High School on Wednesday, October 21, 2009. The Drive Smart Expo consists of stations which discuss the importance of teen safe driving. Such stations include the Duluth Police Department’s Seatbelt Rollover Simulator and DUI Golf Cart, Gwinnett County Police Department, Gwinnett County Fire and EMS, Gwinnett Medical Center, Emory Flight/Rescue Air 1, and Georgia Motor Trucking Association.

The Expo will be for the students of Grayson High School on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 from 7:30am-1:45pm. The Expo will be held on the practice field located next to the entrance to the school off of Hope Hollow Road.

Address: Grayson High School
50 Hope Hollow Road
Grayson, GA

For more information about Operation Drive Smart, contact Ofc. Liz Strickland – Duluth Police Department. This program is made possible by funding provided by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and the partnerships developed by law enforcement and educators across the state.