Peoria County Sheriff’s Office: STEP Campaign
The Peoria County Sheriff's Office was awarded over $7600 from the Illinois Department of Transportation's Division of Traffic Safety on October 1, 2011. The grant provides financial support for Peoria County's participation in the State of Illinois' Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) through September 30, 2012. STEP is designed to reduce the incidence of motor vehicle crashes and their resulting injuries and fatalities through increased and highly visible enforcement of safety belt restraint and impaired driving laws.
In addition, STEP is intended to bring impaired driving and safety belt enforcement efforts together due to a connection between late-night alcohol-involved fatalities, late-night unbuckled fatalities, and lower late-night safety belt usage rates. In other words, during late night hours, impaired driving rates increase, seat belt usage decreases, and more people die in crashes as a result.
The goals of STEP include the following:
- To reduce the number of severe injury and fatal traffic crashes
- To increase enforcement of safety restraint, impaired driving, speed laws, and motorcycle safety laws
- To achieve a higher use of safety belts, child safety seats, booster seats, and motorcycle helmets
- To achieve a lower incidence of impaired driving involved injuries and fatalities
To accomplish these goals, STEP utilizes sustained, increased, year-long traffic enforcement during specific times of the year and times of the day, namely holiday seasons and late night. Thus, the Peoria County Sheriff's Office will be increasing either impaired driving enforcement or safety belt enforcement or a combination of both while participating in the STEP mobilization campaigns over the course of the next year. These enhanced enforcement efforts increase drivers' chances of getting caught and therefore deter potential impaired and/or unbuckled drivers, ultimately saving lives.
2011 - 2012 STEP Law Enforcement Campaigns:
Thanksgiving: November 14 - November 27, 2011
November 14: The Peoria County Sheriff's Office issued a press release announcing its STEP grant award
November 23: The Peoria County Sheriff's Office participated in a press conference conducted by the Illinois Department of Transportation
November 28: The Sheriff's Office issued a press release enumerating results of the Thanksgiving Campaign.
Holiday Campaign: December 19, 2011 - January 1, 2012
December 16: The Sheriff's Office issued a press release to kick-off the Holiday campaign
December 22: The Sheriff's Office participated in a press conference conducted by the Illinois Department of Transportation
January 3: The Sheriff's Office issued a press release with results of the Holiday campaign
