With Independence Day approaching, Dallas County area law enforcement are preparing for the next special Traffic Enforcement Program (sTEP) Wave.

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB) sponsors the program, which provides funds for overtime hours to allow officers to be on the roads more during traffic-heavy holidays. The theme for this Fourth of July sTEP Wave is “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” which puts a focus on preventing impaired driving. Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn says his department is once again a part of the nationwide effort to have a safe holiday, and he’s hopeful that the knowledge of having more officers on the roads will stop drunk and drugged driving before it even starts. “So that’s part of what we’re doing over this holiday weekend. With it being on a Thursday and running into the weekend, it’s going to be a four-day weekend I assume for a lot of people. So there’s going to be a lot of people out, a lot of people celebrating. So we just want to make sure that we try to identify those people that are out on the road, and maybe prevent those people from going out on the road.”

The sTEP Wave will run from July 3-7, and other local participating agencies include the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and Adel Police Department. The GTSB organizes the waves around each of the major travel and party holidays throughout the year, with Labor Day being the next occasion. To hear more from Vaughn, click the link below to listen to the most recent Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with him.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2019/06/27/lets-talk-dallas-county-6-27-2019-eric-vaughn/