The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office recently received a traffic enforcement grant from the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

The $38,000 Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic, or HEAT, grant

will go toward developing and implementing strategies to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities on local roads.

The office will encourage the use of safety belts while educating the public about traffic safety and the dangers of driving under the influence.

Harris Blackwood, the director of the governor's office of highway safety, said in a statement that the agencies receiving the grant are “committed members of the GOHS Traffic Enforcement Network, dedicated to protecting our citizens from drunk drivers.”

“The HEAT project aims to increase the impaired driver apprehension rate,” said Sheriff Duane Piper.

“Units like ours help accomplish that goal through the systematic delivery of effective DUI and aggressive driving counter measures and by providing a higher traffic enforcement profile in the community.”

As a partner in the Operation Zero Tolerance DUI initiatives and the Click it or Ticket seatbelt campaigns, the sheriff’s office will coordinate with the highway safety office during year-round waves of high visibility concentrated patrols, multi-jurisdictional road checks and sobriety checkpoints.