The James City County Police Department has received a pair of state awards and a national award for its traffic safety programs.
The department was honored with a first-place finish in the 2012 National Law Enforcement Challenge, which recognizes localities with the top traffic safety programs nationwide. The first place award is for localities with between 76 and 125 officers. The department also received first place in the Virginia Law Enforcement Challenge for localities with between 76 and 125 officers.
The third award is the Commonwealth Award, which is awarded to the law enforcement organization that has the best traffic safety programs in Virginia. The Commonwealth Award has no size specifications, so James City County Police beat out much larger competitors such as Fairfax County and Virginia Beach.
“We’re very proud of [the awards],” said Maj. Stephen Rubino of the James City County Police Department. “It shows the professionalism of our officers and the support of the county that we have to pursue avenues of technology and innovative means to make the roads safer for all of the people who travel in and through James City County.”
The awards cover all of the programs James City County Police employ for traffic safety. These include selective enforcement, occupant protection measures like seatbelt use, DUI enforcement, programs in the school system related to distracted driving and many more.
“There’s a lot of traffic that comes in and through James City County everyday, and there’s a lot of people who lose their lives for various reasons, whether it’s excessive speed or impaired driving, so we’re pretty focused on making the roads safe for everyone,” Rubino said.
The national award was presented at the International Association of Chiefs of Police at their Oct. 22 conference in Philadelphia. The Virginia awards were presented in August at the Virginia Association of Police Chiefs annual conference in Williamsburg.
