Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office awarded $88k in traffic enforcement grants

The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has awarded the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office with two traffic enforcement grants, totaling $88,459.26.

According to a release, the High Visibility Enforcement grant in the amount of $62,822 was awarded to the sheriff’s office on Oct. 28 for its partnership with the GOHS in “reduc[ing] crashes, injuries, and fatalities across the State of Georgia.” 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, High Visibility Enforcement, or HVE, is the U.S. Department of Transportation’s approach to “significantly reducing serious injuries and deaths on our Nation’s highways, roads, and streets.” 

The plan combines elements of enforcement, visibility, strategy and community partnerships to educate the community and promote compliance with the law.

“High Visibility Enforcement combines highly visible and proactive law enforcement to target a specific traffic safety issue designed to change unlawful and dangerous driving behaviors that contribute to most of the fatal and serious-injury traffic crashes on our roads,” read the release. 

The grant, which will continue until September 2027, will be funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“The Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office is honored to accept this grant and is proud to partner with GOHS through providing education on traffic safety and enforcing Georgia traffic laws to slow down speeders, ensure everyone is bucked up/phone down, and remove impaired drivers from the roadways,” Sheriff Darren Mitchum said.

The same day, the sheriff’s office was also awarded $25,637.26 for serving as the coordinating agency of the GOHS’s Middle Georgia Traffic Enforcement Network, led by Captain Lee Smith and Sergeant Tracy Golden.

The Middle Georgia Traffic Enforcement Agency, one of 16 coordinating networks in Georgia who regularly conduct traffic campaigns, is made up of 21 law enforcement agencies across 12 counties including Bibb, Bleckley, Crawford, Crisp, Dooly, Houston, Macon, Peach, Pulaski, Turner, Twiggs and Wilcox Counties.

“MGTEN works together to address highway safety issues, such as occupant safety, impaired driving, speeding, and distracted driving, and conduct joint enforcement efforts to prevent crashes and save lives in Georgia,” Mitchum said. “I am proud to have the MGTEN coordinator, Captain Lee Smith and MGTEN Assistant Coordinator, Sergeant Tracy Golden on my team at the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office.”

Officials say the sheriff’s office will continue to conduct “waves of high visibility” enforcement throughout 2026 and 2027 in coordination with the GOHS, including with their Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over DUI and Click It Or Ticket seatbelt campaigns.