FCSO TRAFFIC SAFETY UNIT ACTIVITIES
FOR THE MONTH OF MAY, 2017

June 5, 2017

The Florence County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Safety Unit conducted enforcement operations throughout Florence County during the month of May 2017. The Traffic Safety Unit is made up of 6 Deputies, three of whom are funded by a traffic safety grant awarded to FCSO in October of 2016. The primary function of the Traffic Safety Unit is to reduce the number of traffic collisions and fatalities experienced in Florence County. Members of the FCSO Traffic Safety Unit will focus their enforcement efforts on roadways with a high number of collisions and traffic related deaths. Team members will also be concentrating on the traffic violations that lead to traffic deaths such as speeding, DUI, and seatbelt violations. All members of the Traffic Safety Unit are certified in Standardized Field Sobriety Testing, Breath Test Operators, Speed Measurement Device Operators, and two members are certified Drug Recognition Experts. Members of the Traffic Safety Unit that are paid for by the Traffic Safety Grant have received specialized vehicles and equipment, and their salaries will be paid for by grant funds for the next three years. The Traffic Safety Unit also participates with the 12th Circuit LEN and will be planning checkpoints throughout Florence County during the month of June.

For the month of May 2017 the Traffic Safety Unit logged the following statistics:

Traffic Violations
DUI: 10
Seatbelt: 101
Child Restraint Violations: 3
Speeding: 165
Driving Under Suspension: 40
Driving Without a License: 16
Uninsured Motorist: 3
Other Traffic Violations: 175
Total number of Traffic Citations:

513

Criminal Violations
Drug Arrests: 20
Fugitive Arrests: 5
Stolen Vehicles Recovered: 1
Other Criminal Violations: 2
Collisions investigated: 10
Total Criminal Violations: 38
Safety Presentations: 1 (425 People+ Contacted)

Other Incidents: Members of the FCSO Traffic Safety Unit contacted a vehicle during a traffic stop and apprehended a subject that was in possession of a firearm and had an outstanding warrant for Armed Robbery. Members of the FCSO Traffic Safety Unit responded to the report of a suspicious vehicle and contacted the male and female occupant. The female occupant of the vehicle was wanted as an accessory after the fact to a murder that took place in the Biloxi Mississippi Area. Recently the governor signed in to law new Child Safety Seat requirements; it is very important that children be properly restrained while traveling in any vehicle. Deputies from the Traffic Safety Unit will be actively enforcing the Child Restraint Law and will be working with Project Safe Kids to pass along information regarding the child restraint law, and how parents can obtain a free child safety seat. Here are the other requirements of the law:

  • (1) An infant or child under two years of age must be properly secured in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system in a rear passenger seat of the vehicle until the child exceeds the height or weight limit allowed by the manufacturer of the child passenger restraint system being used.
  • (2) A child at least two years of age or a child under two years of age who has outgrown his rear-facing child passenger restraint system must be secured in a forward-facing child passenger restraint system with a harness in a rear passenger seat of the vehicle until the child exceeds the highest height or weight requirements of the forward-facing child passenger restraint system.
  • (3) A child at least four years of age who has outgrown his forward-facing child passenger restraint system must be secured by a belt-positioning booster seat in a rear seat of the vehicle until he can meet the height and fit requirements for an adult safety seat belt as described in item (4). The belt-positioning booster seat must be used with both lap and shoulder belts. A booster seat must not be used with a lap belt alone.
  • (4) A child at least eight years of age or at least fifty-seven inches tall may be restrained by an adult safety seat belt if the child can be secured properly by an adult safety seat belt. A child is properly secured by an adult safety seat belt if:
    • (a) the lap belt fits across the child's thighs and hips and not across the abdomen;
    • (b) the shoulder belt crosses the center of the child's chest and not the neck; and
    • (c) the child is able to sit with his back straight against the vehicle seat back cushion with his knees bent over the vehicle's seat edge without slouching.
  • (5) For medical reasons that are substantiated with written documentation from the child's physician, advanced nurse practitioner, or physician assistant, a child who is unable to be transported in a standard child passenger safety restraint system may be transported in a standard child passenger safety restraint system designed for his medical needs.

Any child restraint system of a type sufficient to meet the physical standards prescribed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at the time of its manufacture is sufficient to meet the requirements of this article.
If your organization or group would like to host a Safety Presentation by the Traffic Safety Unit, please contact Lieuteant A.B. Fox at (843) 665-2121, ext. 302.

END
Major Michael M. Nunn
General Counsel/P.I.O.