Groton Town police recognized for work promoting traffic safety
Groton — For the third year in a row, town police placed first in their division for their efforts to promote traffic safety as part of the state Department of Transportation’s annual Connecticut Law Enforcement Challenge.
The DOT’s Highway Safety Office coordinates the competition. Officials evaluate applications submitted by departments across the state to determine which ones combined officer training, public outreach and enforcement to reduce crashes and injuries.
In Groton, which falls into a category that includes departments with 66 to 100 sworn officers, officers stopped more than 1,500 people who were speeding or otherwise committing hazardous traffic violations during 2015, the year the competition covered.
They also saw an 8 percent increase in seat belt usage after a Click It or Ticket campaign.
The DOT additionally recognized Officers Marvel Bennett, Greg McCarthy and Darren Kenyon for their work in speed and overall traffic enforcement, DUI detection and apprehension, and safety restraint and occupant protection, respectively.
DOT officials further awarded the town department with a “Saved by the Belt” award because a driver involved in a serious crash in town in 2015 likely avoided life-threatening injuries by wearing a safety belt.
“This is third consecutive year — and fourth time in the last five years — that our officers have earned this first place award for traffic safety,” Chief Louis J. Fusaro Jr. said in a news release. “I am very proud of the work done by our officers in keeping Groton safe by identifying hazardous violations and maintaining traffic safety as one of our top priorities.”
The department was recognized during the DOT’s annual Traffic Safety Summit last month.
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