ATLANTA – The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has announced that the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office is one of 21 law enforcement agencies in Georgia to receive a Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic grant for the Federal 2022 Fiscal Year. Referred to as a H.E.A.T. grant, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office’s award totals $77,680.64.

The goal of the H.E.A.T. program is to combat crashes, injuries and fatalities caused by impaired driving and speeding, while also increasing seatbelt use and educating the public about traffic safety and the dangers of DUI.

The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office H.E.A.T Unit will use the grant from GOHS to develop and implement strategies to reduce local traffic crashes due to aggressive and dangerous driving behaviors.

“With the increase in the number of persons killed in traffic crashes in Georgia and across the nation over the last year, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is working with partners like Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office to implement programs designed to stop the risky driving behaviors that are contributing to a majority of our serious-injury and fatality crashes,” Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said.”  “Many of the fatal traffic crashes on our roads are preventable, and we will continue to work with our educational and enforcement partners to develop programs and initiatives that are designed to get Georgia to our goal of zero traffic deaths.”

H.E.A.T. grants fund specialize traffic enforcement units in counties throughout the state. The program was designed to assist Georgia jurisdictions with the highest rates of traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities with grants awarded based on impaired driving and speeding data.

“Traffic concerns are one of our citizens most prevalent complaints. Keeping our citizens safe on our roadways is an

incredibly important job for FCSO. Grants such as this HEAT grant from GOHS help us do just that, keep our citizens safe by helping us take dangerous drivers off our roads,” said Sheriff Ron Freeman.

As law enforcement partners in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over DUI campaign and the Click It Or Ticket seatbelt campaigns, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office will also conduct mobilizations throughout the year in coordination with GOHS’s year-round waves of high visibility patrols, multi-jurisdictional roadchecks and sobriety checkpoints.

For more information about the H.E.A.T. program or any other GOHS campaign, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org or call 404-656-6996.