| To: | Steve Davis |
| From: | Sgt. John R. Gardner |
| Re: | Click It or Ticket and Labor Day Weekend Enforcement |
The Click It or Ticket campaign was a tremendous
success this year. All of the city police departments within DeKalb
County participated, as well as the Georgia State Patrol. The
following is a synopsis of the entire Labor Day weekend enforcement.
THE PURPOSE
The purpose of the Click It or Ticket
campaign is to bring awareness to the general public about
the need to fasten seat belts and the proper use of child safety
seats. With increased usage of seat belts and child safety seats,
serious bodily injury and fatalities from traffic crashes can
be prevented. This aids the Department of Public Safety by keeping
police, fire and emergency medical services resources from being
over-utilized. The timing of the Click It or Ticket
is purposely placed near Labor Day Weekend, because this holiday
traditionally has the second highest number of traffic fatalities.
The media was contacted and is very instrumental to the purpose
of the Click It or Ticket campaign. There was news
coverage about Click It or Ticket on channels 2,
5, 11, and 46, with several exposures on each station. Various
DeKalb County newspapers also covered this event. This helps to
spread the word about seat belts and child restraints to the public,
and showed the DeKalb County Police Department in a very positive
light. What was especially positive was the number of parents
that commented on the effort to inspect the child safety seat
for proper installation. This inspection was provided by SAFE
KIDS of DeKalb and the S.T.A.R. TEAM. Free child safety seats
were provided for the indigent by SAFE KIDS of DeKalb. Teddy bears,
coloring books and crayons were also distributed to children that
were "inconvenienced" by the roadblock.
THE METHOD
Once the exact locations, day of week, and time of the roadblocks
are determined, the DeKalb Board of Health does a survey of the
location using the exact same criteria. This survey provides data
for the number of vehicles that pass that location, the number
of seat belt users, and the number of children in a child safety
seat. This is all conducted prior to the roadblock. At the Lithonia
location, this was also done during the Click It or Ticket
roadblock.
There were six roadblocks conducted from Thursday, August 29 through
Saturday, August 31, 1996. The Georgia State Patrol assisted at
all six locations. On Thursday the roadblocks were at the City
of Lithonia and the City of Decatur. Friday the roadblocks were
at the City of Pine Lake, the City of Clarkston, and the City
of Avondale Estates. Police officers from the City of Stone Mountain
assisted at Clarkston and at Avondale Estates. At each of these
locations, officers assigned to TAC and the S.T.A.R. TEAM were
working the street, while officers from the city involved and
the Georgia State Troopers wrote the citations to the violators.
Saturday was the conclusion of Click It or Ticket,
with officers from each jurisdiction joining in at the Chamblee
roadblock. The use of police officers from all of the cities inside
DeKalb County made this a true multi-jurisdictional roadblock.
There were 62 police officers at this roadblock. This shows the
commitment that each agency has towards traffic safety. It was
impressive to see the patrol vehicles and the police officers
from all of the various agencies lined up at the roadblock. There
were 525 citations issued and 19 arrests made during the entire
campaign. The number of roadblock hours and the number of tickets
calculates to 55 tickets written every hour. This is almost a
ticket issued every minute. The totals from the roadblocks are
given in the enclosed tabled labeled Click It or Ticket
Statistics.
Inspection of the installation of child safety seats is an integral
part of Click It or Ticket. SAFE KIDS of DeKalb
staff and volunteers totaled fifteen. The table below shows the
statistics for the child safety seat inspection area.
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THE RESULTS
The last activity that is done is a repeat of the survey. It will
be done anywhere from a week to a month from the Click It
or Ticket campaign. Past surveys have shown an increase
in seat belt usage and child safety seat usage after a Click
It or Ticket campaign.
There were 19 arrests from the Click It or Ticket campaign.
The charges are as follows:
Charged with D.U.I. 4
Charged with No driver's license 3
Charged with Operating with a suspended driver's license 8
Arrested on outstanding felony warrants 4
There were two stolen motor vehicles recovered. One was in Clarkston,
the other in Pine Lake.
The S.T.A.R. TEAM also conducted what is known as a "blue
light blitz" on Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend. Each
officer was assigned an expressway to patrol for speeders, improper
lane change, following too close, failure to secure minors, and
seat belt violations. The number of citations issued by the S.T.A.R.
TEAM for both days totaled 305. There was one arrest for D.U.I.
The combination of the blue light blitz and the Click It
or Ticket campaign totaled 849. This is an increase of
16% from last years Labor Day weekend enforcement activities.
