MONTGOMERY – Gov. Robert Bentley has awarded a $601,189 grant to improve Alabama’s continued efforts to take unsafe drivers off the road.
The grant will enable the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to purchase 50 evidential breath testing devices which law enforcement officers use to determine the blood alcohol levels of drivers who have been stopped for traffic violations. The testers will be used to replace older EBT devices.
“Alabama law enforcement officers deserve to have the best equipment as they work to protect and serve the people of Alabama, and I am pleased to award a grant that provides new evidential breath testing devices,” Bentley said. “Motorists who drink and drive and put the lives and safety of others at risk need to be taken off the roads and this equipment provide our officers with the tools to better enforce our laws.”
Many of the EBTs will be used for training as law enforcement agencies begin converting to more modern and more effective alcohol detection devices.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants from funds made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Bentley notified Forensics Director Michael F. Sparks that the grant had been approved.
“These grants demonstrate ADECA’s desire to partner with other state agencies to enforce our laws and make our roads safe,” said ADECA Director Jim Byard Jr.
ADECA administers an array of programs supporting law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, water resource management and recreation development.
