November 2O19 3 Enforcement & Education 4 Best Practices 7 Being a Professional THE 8 Region 10 Spotlight 9 Partner Spotlight: FMCSA 10 From the Bench 11 Awards & Events 12 Traffic Safety Calendar LELLaw Enforcement Improving Traffic Safety Panelists discuss tools and tactics to strengthen law enforcement/SHSO relationships at the GHSA 2019 Annual Meeting. From left: Darrin Grondel, Director, Washington Traffic Safety Commission; GHSA consultant Tom Gianni; National LEL Program Manager Tim Burrows; Greg Fredericksen, Regional Administrator, NHTSA Region 10; Amy Davey, Administrator, Nevada Office of Traffic Safety; and Oro Valley (AZ) Police Department Chief Daniel Sharp. Partners in Safety A new toolkit from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) will help strengthen interactions between State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) and law enforcement. By Amadie Hart The project LAW ENFORCEMENT IS A CRITICAL PARTNER IN EF- the scope of the problem. Among the issues identi- first kicked forts to make our roadways safer, but too often the fied were a lack of motivation and interest within law off in 2017 connections between law enforcement agencies enforcement leadership to prioritize traffic safety with a series and the SHSO are weak or non-existent. A set of among numerous competing priorities, law enforce- of interviews tools developed by GHSA, under contract with the ment leadership turnover and resource challenges in to determine National Highway Traffic Safety Administration law enforcement agencies (staffing and funding). the scope of the problem. (NHTSA), is now available to help strengthen those relationships. These interviews informed a series of facilitated ex- pert panel meetings that brought together a diverse The project first kicked off in 2017 with a series of set of stakeholders representing law enforcement interviews with law enforcement officers, law en- (the International Association of Chiefs of Police, forcement liaisons and SHSO leaders to determine National Sheriffs’ Association and National As- THE LEL | November 2019 Issue 1 Partners in Safety sociation of Black Law Enforce- ment Executives), research and advocacy groups (AAA Founda- tion for Traffic Safety, MADD and the National Safety Council), the federal government, LELs and SHSOs to discuss potential ac- tions that could help strengthen these relationships. The purpose of From those meetings, GHSA these tools is developed a roadmap of tools to help SHSO and resources to help enhance leadership these interactions. This roadmap develop led the way to the development of executive- a toolkit, released in September, to-executive relationships that is designed to help SHSOs with law assess their relationship-building enforcement efforts with law enforcement, Among the resources created for the toolkit are a customizable leaders that lay identify effective outreach tactics PowerPoint presentation for SHSO executives to use in meetings with the groundwork and communicate the value of law law enforcement and a companion guide that provides talking points and for the work enforcement/SHSO partnerships discussion topics. that LELs do to law enforcement executives. in the state. ● A set of case studies examin- continue to be enhanced with The toolkit, which is available on ing effective state LEL pro- additional LEL case studies and the GHSA website, includes: grams and their relationship supported by ongoing outreach with the SHSO. and messaging efforts that ● A self-assessment tool for encourage SHSO leadership SHSO executives to review The purpose of these tools is to to use the tools and what they their law enforcement outreach help SHSO leadership develop have learned to increase their and engagement activities and executive-to-executive relation- interactions and deepen their develop plans to strengthen ships with law enforcement relationships with law enforce- these relationships. leaders that lay the groundwork ment executives in their state. for the work that LELs do in the ● A directory of state-level state. Encouraging law enforce- For more information on the law enforcement association ment leaders to make traffic contacts. toolkit or other resources to safety a priority in their agency support law enforcement/ ● A customizable PowerPoint not only makes it easier to se- SHSO relationship-building, presentation for SHSO execu- cure participation in mobilizations contact Amadie Hart at ahart@ tives to use in meetings with and other traffic safety enforce- ghsa.org. law enforcement executives. ment efforts, it also garners benefits in the attitudes and Amadie Hart is a Communica- ● A companion guide for the enthusiasm of the line officers tions and Events Consultant PowerPoint presentation with whom an LEL works. for GHSA. that includes customization instructions, talking points and The resources that were devel- discussion topics. oped through this project will THE LEL | November 2019 Issue 2 Enforcement Tim Burrows PROGRAM MANAGER Through Education Every interaction THERE WERE VERY FEW TIMES, The vast majority of all community I had with an relatively speaking, during my and law enforcement contacts THE offender was 25 years as a law enforcement begin with a traffic stop. The an opportunity officer that I approached a vehicle overwhelming majority of those LELLaw Enforcement Improving Traffic Safety to improve stop knowing for sure that the are with mostly law-abiding mem- community driver would walk away with a bers of the community. Some law relations, build The LEL is published by the trust and convey ticket. My general mindset was enforcement personnel shy away to let the violator determine the from traffic enforcement because National Law Enforcement the importance Liaison Program, a project of enforcement severity of the outcome of our they don’t want to deal with com- meeting. More often than not I plaints, accusations or arguments. of the Governors Highway activities. Safety Association, funded was looking to educate and give But by avoiding traffic stops, an by the National Highway a warning. officer minimizes the opportunity Traffic Safety Administration. to create positive outcomes and I wanted to make sure that at the community trust. 660 N. Capitol Street, NW, end of our interaction the offend- Suite 220, er knew the importance of traffic Another negative side effect of Washington DC 20001-1642 laws, the reason general or spe- avoiding traffic stops is that an www.nlelp.org cific enforcement was conducted, agency misses opportunities to facebook.com/nlelp any specific reasons the particular fight crime and improve the qual- location warranted increased ity of life within their community. twitter.com/nlelp enforcement (e.g. it was a crash Remember, criminals do drive; PROGRAM MANAGER hot spot or serious crash area) vehicles are a conveyance for hu- Tim Burrows and anything else that would help man trafficking and stolen goods the person change their behavior and multiple acts of terrorism have EDITORS due to an understanding of the been carried out using vehicles. Amadie Hart Adrian Nicholas larger safety picture and not just because they had a healthy fear Ignoring the enforcement compo- CREATIVE of a ticket. nent of traffic safety is ignoring Tony Frye Design the needs of your community. Every interaction I had with an While I never focused on the TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP offender was an opportunity to number of tickets I wrote as an Glenn Cramer Scott MacGregor improve community relations, build officer, I can assure you that the Ted Minall trust and convey the importance people who deserved them got Michael Morris of enforcement activities. Even them. At the end of the day, quality Wil Price when tickets were issued, an ar- mattered more to me than quan- James Sanders rest made or a search executed, I tity, with my goals being greater Bill Sullivan was doing what I could to ensure compliance, long-term learning Richard Sullivan the lasting impression of the and better interactions. encounter was one of respect and professionalism. My hope was Traffic enforcement is a good thing that the offender understood our for communities and law enforce- interaction was for safety reasons ment agencies, and it is important and not because of perceived for law enforcement leaders and quotas or revenue. officers to understand this. THE LEL | November 2019 Issue 3 Best Practices pledge not to drive distracted Top: An officer talks and to spread the campaign with a AAA Teen message to their families. Driving Experience participant. Bottom: Ohio high The engagement and visibility school students of law enforcement agencies sign the Don’t Drive was critical to the success of Intoxicated, Don’t Drive Intexticated the events. Their participation pledge. allowed the teens to make a personal connection with those protecting our road- ways, and law enforcement officers were able to observe during the driving demonstra- tions that the students were “getting it.” Initial reactions from the teen drivers were mostly those of amusement and light-hearted joking, as cones along the course representing other road users and obstacles were knocked down. These reactions soon turned to ones of alarm and concern by the second or third student driver failure. Similar programs can be brought to high schools across the country; however, AAA encourages those seek- ing to replicate this program SW Ohio Law As part of the campaign, high to use vehicles, not golf Enforcement Partners schools in the region hosted carts. Having the teens drive for Teen Safety kickoff