The Long Beach Police Department has received a grant to support its ongoing enforcement and education programs to help improve traffic safety in the city.<\/p>\n
The $401,000 grant was awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to support its ongoing enforcement and education programs to help reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on Long Beach\u2019s roads, according to a Nov. 5 press release. The grant program runs through September 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are grateful to receive this grant, which will strengthen our traffic enforcement efforts and improve road safety,\u201d LBPD Sergeant Miguel Valenzuela said in a statement. \u201cThrough a combination of education and enforcement efforts, our goal is to reduce dangerous driving behaviors, prevent crashes, and make our roads safer for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2025, 56 people died in traffic collisions on Long Beach streets, the highest total in decades, authorities said. Of those, 31 were pedestrians.<\/p>\n
This grant will provide additional programs and resources for LBPD, including DUI checkpoints and patrols focused on stopping suspected impaired drivers; high-visibility distracted driving enforcement operations targeting drivers in violation of California\u2019s hands-free cell phone law; and enforcement operations focused on the most dangerous driver behaviors that put the safety of people biking or walking at risk, according to the press release.<\/p>\n
The grant will also allow for enforcement operations focused on top violations that cause crashes, such as speeding, failure to yield, stop sign and\/or red-light running, and improper turning or lane changes; conduct enforcement operations focused specifically on street racing and sideshow activities; community presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, impaired driving, speeding and bicycle and pedestrian safety; collaborative enforcement efforts with neighboring agencies; and officer training and\/or recertification for Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).<\/p>\n
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough focused traffic enforcement and education, we\u2019re working toward a future where everyone will be safe on California roads,\u201d OTS Director Stephanie Dougherty said in a statement. \u201cBy encouraging people to prioritize safety in their daily choices, we are creating a strong road safety culture together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite facing financial challenges and budget cuts, Long Beach made investing funds toward traffic safety a priority for its fiscal year 2027 budget, which the City Council approved in September. The city will be making targeted investments of up to $13 million in high-priority services such as street medians, traffic safety, street lights and park cleanup, as well as establishing a new Traffic Safety Division within the Public Works Department to focus on neighborhood traffic calming, quick-build safety improvements, Vision Zero initiatives, and administration of the city\u2019s Automated Speed Enforcement Program.<\/p>\n
Last month, the city also launched the pilot program for its Speed Safety System, which uses automated speed safety devices in areas such as school zones and on high-injury streets to help curb excessive speeding and reduce collisions and fatalities. A 60-day warning period began on Oct. 7, and citations will begin on Dec. 7 for drivers traveling 11 mph or more over the speed limit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Long Beach Police Department has received a grant to support its ongoing enforcement and education programs to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,23,131,133,132,137,1492],"class_list":["post-520956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-local-news","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-public-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}