Sheriff seeks $321K in grants for three safety programs

Burlington County Sheriff Jean Stanfield is seeking $321,000 in grant funding to support three county safety programs.

The funding, from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, will expand Stanfield’s Child Passenger Safety Program, Pedestrian Safety Program and Comprehensive Traffic Safety Program.

“The safety of Burlington County residents is our top priority,” said Stanfield. “These projects combine education with tough multi-jurisdictional enforcement. We anticipate that this will have a significant impact on traffic safety in our county.”

Stanfield’s Child Passenger Safety Program is extremely popular with families who have small children. Child Passenger Safety technicians are fully trained and must recertify every two years in order to participate in this program.

The sheriff requested an additional $7,000 for the 2012–13 Child Passenger Safety Program which ends on Sept. 30, to hold six additional safety events and to purchase 40 child safety seats that the department distributes to families that are unable to provide their own.

A total of $26,000 has been requested for the next year that runs from Oct. 1, through Sept. 30, 2014.

This will enable Stanfield to provide 20 child safety seat events, 30 education programs, and purchase additional child safety seats.

The Pedestrian Safety Program is new this year.

Pedestrian fatalities in the county rose significantly during 2012, and we have already experienced several pedestrian fatalities at the start of 2013.

“This project will use a three-prong approach of education, enforcement and engineering to address the important issue of pedestrian safety,” said Stanfield.

The Sheriff’s Department has officers trained by the state to conduct pedestrian decoy operations and will partner with local municipal police departments throughout the county. Both drivers and pedestrians will be given warnings along with information about pedestrian traffic laws.

Traffic safety is also a priority for Stanfield. She has requested $258,000 for this program; $75,000 will be added to the existing Comprehensive Traffic Safety Grant, which runs through Sept. 30.

These funds will be used for proactive traffic enforcement along the 23 miles of the Route 130 corridor that run through Burlington County.

For the fifth year in a row, this stretch of roadway has been declared the most dangerous by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

Sheriff’s officers and municipal police officers will work together for traffic enforcement. Traffic studies will also be conducted to measure compliance with speed and pedestrian laws before and after the operations to determine the success of the program.

For the 2013–14 year, Stanfield has asked for $150,000 for the Route 130 corridor.

The remaining grant funds will allow the sheriff to continue free defensive driving classes, crossing guard training, the Share the Keys Program for teen drivers and their parents, bike and pedestrian safety education programs and general public awareness initiatives about driving safety.

For more information about the various programs, visit the county website at www.co.burlington.nj.us or call 609–265–5128.