Emergency: 911        Non-Emergency: (803) 436-2774
Location: 1281 North Main Street, Sumter, SC 29153
     Mailing: P.O. Box 430, Sumter, SC 29151

Highway Safety Award  for FY2022

Just in time for the upcoming holidays, Sumter County Sheriff’s Office has received a grant that will allow the agency to increase traffic enforcement in the hopes of reducing collisions caused by impaired and distracted driving.

The General Traffic Enforcement Grant — awarded by South Carolina Department of Public Safety Office of Highway Safety and Justice Program — has allowed the sheriff’s office to create a team of deputies that will focus solely on enforcing traffic laws through targeted patrolling, checkpoints and community awareness campaigns. Deputies participating in this program will be compensated to work on their days off.

The overall goal of the grant of approximately $66,000, is to reduce collisions that involve pedestrians; to reduce collisions that result in death and serious injuries; and to reduce collisions caused by speeding. Other than enforcement, the sheriff’s office will announce various traffic safety campaigns throughout the grant period — Oct. 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022 — such as Distracted Driving Awareness, Youth Traffic Safety Awareness and Child Passenger Safety Awareness.

“One of our main focuses at Sumter County Sheriff’s Office is to reduce crime in the county and that includes traffic violations,” said Sheriff Anthony Dennis. “This highway safety grant could also help our agency save lives by having a traffic safety team that will focus on dangerous driving behaviors such as driving under the influence and driving while distracted.”