On October 05, 2022, Sheriff Dix announced that the Spalding County Sheriff's Office was one of twenty-one (21) agencies in the State of Georgia to be awarded a grant to implement a HEAT Unit for the Federal 2023 Fiscal Year.

    The goal of the H.E.A.T. program is to combat crashes, injuries, and fatalities caused by impaired driving and speeding, while also increasing seatbelt use and educating the public about traffic safety and the dangers of driving under the influence (DUI).

    The Spalding County Sheriff's Office H.E.A.T. Unit will use the grant from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) to develop and implement strategies to reduce local traffic crashes due to aggressive and dangerous driving behaviors.

    "With the increase in the number of persons killed in traffic crashes in Georgia, and across the nation, over the last year, the Governor's Office of Highway Safety is working with partners like the Spalding County Sheriff's Office to implement programs designed to stop the risky driving behaviors that are contributing to a majority of our serious-injury and fatality crashes." Allen Pool, Director of the Governor's Office of Highway safety said, "Many of the fatal traffic crashes on our roads are preventable, and we will continue to work with our educational and enforcement partners to develop programs and initiatives that are designed to get Georgia to our goal of zero traffic deaths."

    H.E.A.T. grants fund specialized traffic enforcement units in counties throughout the state. The program was designed to assist Georgia jurisdictions with the highest rates of traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities with grants awarded on impaired driving and speeding data.

    According to Sheriff Darrell Dix, "We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with the GOHS through the H.E.A.T. program. The grant provides us with salary reimbursement, vehicles, and all other equipment for two (2) full-time H.E.A.T. positions that will be manned by Deputy Michael Caldwell and Deputy Joseph Crumpler. This now gives us the ability to have Deputies dedicated solely to traffic enforcement duties, specifically targeting impaired drivers, speeders, high risk traffic offenders, and ensuring seatbelt compliance."

    As law enforcement partners in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over DUI campaign and the Click-It or Ticket seatbelt campaigns, the Spalding County Sheriff's Office will also conduct mobilizations throughout the year in coordination with GOHS's year-round waves of high visibility patrols, multi-jurisdictional road checks and sobriety checkpoints.

    For more information about the H.E.A.T. program, or any other GOHS campaign, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org or call (404) 656-6996.