Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has been awarded $1.7 million for driving under the influence training and prosecution.
The cash comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to tackle the growing problem of drunk and high drivers on LA's roads.
L.A. County D.A. George Gascón announced the funding, stressing how it'll help nail offenders and stop future tragedies.
“With this grant, we will not only seek justice for victims but also work toward preventing future tragedies by holding offenders accountable and creating a stronger deterrent to impaired driving,” Gascón said.
The funds will boost DTAPS, giving police better tools and know-how to catch impaired drivers. They're aiming to get more officers trained as drug recognition experts in the county.
These experts are crucial in DUI cases - they can explain how different drugs affect people. When they testify, it really helps convince people not to drive high.
Since 2016, DTAPS has been teaching local police and prosecutors how to investigate and prosecute cases involving alcohol and drug-related DUI cases. They're all about cutting down on impaired drivers and stopping deadly crashes.
The grant runs through September 2025 and includes funds for a drug recognition expert in the D.A.'s office. This expert will be on call to help prosecutors with tricky DUI cases.
L.A.'s seeing more drunk and high drivers lately, and more people dying because of it. This funding should help the county fight back with better training and tougher prosecutions.
The D.A.'s office thinks this grant could be a game-changer for road safety in L.A. They're hitting impaired driving from all angles - stopping it before it happens and throwing the book at offenders.
As this program kicks off, local police should get better at spotting and busting drunk drivers. That means prosecutors will have stronger cases to work with in court.
This grant could shake things up beyond just arresting and prosecuting drunk drivers. By cracking down harder on impaired driving, they're hoping to make the roads safer for everyone.
Even with this big boost, there's still a lot of work to do on the drunk driving problem. Things like public awareness, education, and tackling substance abuse all play a part in how many people drive drunk.
The D.A.'s office will be keeping a close eye on how well this program works.