Breathing Easier

The City of Statesboro, and its surrounding communities, can breathe easier now that the Georgia Southern University Police Department has received an $8,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to purchase a CMI Intoxilyzer 9000, which will replace the current Intoxilyzer 5000. The grant was secured by Major Laura McCullough, assistant director of Public Safety, and is used to obtain the implied consent state-administered breath test for prosecution of drunk-driving offenders. By law, law enforcement agencies must replace older testing units by 2015.

“The Georgia Southern University Police Department is proud to partner with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to help keep everyone safe on our roadways,” said McCullough. “We are extremely grateful to receive this grant because it enhances our continued efforts to provide a safe environment to the faculty, staff, students and visitors on our campus.”

As a grant recipient, the University police department must participate in a regional traffic network as well as national highway safety campaigns, including “Click-it or Ticket” and “Operation Zero Tolerance.” Each year, the campus Police Department makes roughly 71 DUI (Driving Under the Influence) arrests. There were 61 in 2009, 85 in 2010, 55 in 2011, 83 in 2012 and 72 DUI arrests in 2013.