Burlington County Sheriff Applies For $194K In Safety Grants

The Burlington County Sheriff’s Department is applying for three traffic safety grants totaling $194,000 from the Division of Highway Traffic Safety, officials announced. These grants would fund the Sheriff’s Child Passenger Safety Seat Program, the Comprehensive Traffic Safety Program, and Pedestrian Decoy Enforcement Program.

“Since its start 21 years ago, the Burlington County Child Passenger Safety Program has inspected over 16,500 child safety seats. Last year only 9.3% of families who came to a checkpoint had their child’s safety seat properly installed. This is an increase of 8% from 2017-2018,” Chief Michael Ditzel said. “These figures include parents who have come to us previously to have their seats inspected as well as first time participants. This shows the critical need to continue this program.”

Currently, safety seat checkpoints are held every Wednesday at the county complex from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will also be on the road checkpoints held on the following dates:

Saturday, April 27, 2019
10:00am - 2:00pm
YMCA Mt. Laurel - 59 Centerton Road, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054

Saturday, May 4, 2019
10:00am - 2:00pm
Westampton Fire Station - 780 Woodlane Road, Westampton, NJ 08060

Saturday, May 11, 2019
10:00am - 2:00pm
Rita's Water Ice - 21 Juliustown Road, Browns Mills, NJ 08015

Monday, June 3, 2019
5:00pm - 8:00pm
Temple Har Zion - 255 High Street, Mt. Holly NJ 08060

Saturday, June 8, 2019
10:00am - 2:00pm
Evesham Fire Station - 26 East Main Street, Marlton, NJ 08053

Saturday, July 13, 2019
10:00am - 2:00pm
Mt. Laurel Fire Station 362 - 3824 Church Road, Mt. Laurel NJ 08054

Saturday, September 3, 2019
10:00am - 2:00pm
Mt. Laurel Fire Station 361 - 105 Masonville Road, Mt. Laurel NJ 08054

Saturday, September 14, 2019
10:00am - 2:00pm
Medford Lakes Fire Station - 10 Stokes Road, Medford Lakes, NJ 08055

No appointment is needed for any of the safety seat checkpoints. For more information, call 609-265-3788.

“The Sheriff’s Department is committed to educating parents and caregivers on the steps they need to take to keep their children safe while traveling on our roadways,” Ditzel said. “We hope that parents will take advantage of one of these many on the road checkpoints this year.”

Last year the Sheriff’s Department partnered with Project Teach to educate teen parents on the proper way to install their child’s safety seat.

For the Comprehensive Traffic Safety Program, the Sheriff’s Department works with the Burlington County Traffic Safety Committee to implement various public education and other traffic safety programs throughout the county. The committee consists of representatives from local government, law enforcement, state agencies and non-profit groups.

“In May 2013 we were awarded funding for Operation Safe Passage Route 130. The Sheriff’s Department works alongside police departments along Route 130 to conduct proactive traffic enforcement on this strip of highway,” Ditzel said. “During this grant period, we will continue to patrol Route 130 and hope to expand our proactive multi-jurisdictional traffic operations to other areas of the county.”

The Sheriff’s Department is requesting $100,000 for the 2019-2020 funding cycle to continue this enforcement work. A total of $25,000 will be used to conduct proactive and education details in the Burlington City School Zone during the hours of 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. $75,000 will be used to conduct proactive details on the 22.5 miles of Route 130.

“The remaining grant money will allow us to continue to offer many of the very successful programs including defensive driving classes, crossing guard training, bicycle safety and pedestrian safety education,” Ditzel said.

In 2013, the Sheriff’s Department began the Pedestrian Decoy Enforcement Program which uses plain clothes police officers in crosswalks to ensure that drivers are following pedestrian crossing laws.

The $30,000 requested for this program will enable the Sheriff’s Department to conduct enforcement operations and education details at various locations throughout the county in conjunction with municipal police departments.

For more information on these programs, visit the Sheriff’s Department’s section of the County webpage at http://www.co.burlington.nj.us/130/Sheriffs-Department.