Poughkeepsie… Dutchess County Executive William R. Steinhaus is pleased to announce 15 law enforcement agencies/municipalities in Dutchess County will participate in the “Selective Traffic Enforcement Program” (STEP) this year. The Dutchess County Traffic Safety Board’s “Block” grant provides funding to support dedicated police patrols targeting speeding and unsafe driving behaviors. Law Enforcement officers throughout Dutchess County will target high risk aggressive driving behaviors including speeding, red light running, failure to yield right of way, following too closely, and unsafe passing. 

County Executive Steinhaus encourages the residents of Dutchess County to be more aware of their driving behaviors. The County Executive stated, “Many of the motor vehicle crashes in our communities can be directly attributed to speeding and other aggressive driving behaviors. While all of our ongoing public information and education efforts help to prevent some of these incidents, targeted law enforcement is the key to eliminating these behaviors and their resulting crashes and injuries.” 

According to William Johnson, Administrator of the Dutchess County Traffic Safety Board, “This funding provides local law enforcement additional resources to target unsafe driving behaviors to keep our roads as safe as possible.”

The Dutchess County Traffic Safety Board has appropriated $95,230 of grant funding made available through the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. Dedicated patrols will be deployed throughout the year during those periods of time when the most crashes occur statistically. Included in the grant appropriations is $19,230 earmarked for the purchase of state of the art equipment to assist law enforcement with the detection and identification of violators.

The Dutchess County Traffic Safety Board is a coalition of law enforcement, education, health and service agencies and individuals committed to ensuring our streets, sidewalks, and residents remain safe.