Memorandum 18-120 Project Drive Grant

MEMORANDUM 18-120

DATE: October 11, 2018

TO: Katie Koester, City Manager

FROM: Mark Robl, Chief of Police

SUBJECT: Project Drive Grant

The State has approved another grant in support of our Project Drive program for 2019 in the amount of $27,633. I request we obtain council approval to accept this grant.

We started Project Drive in 2014. The goal of the project is to positively engage youth in our community with an emphasis on educating them about the risks involved with driving under the influence. Our target audience is children between 13 and 18 years of age. We conduct clinics at annual events and in cooperation with our local schools focusing on alcohol education and awareness. Students are given the opportunity to drive a utility vehicle with a police officer while wearing Fatal Vision Goggles which simulate various blood alcohol levels and either day or night conditions. The project has become very popular and we have had requests to deliver it in other communities. We typically comply with requests from other areas as long as the entire cost of doing so is paid by the grant.

Since beginning Project Drive, we have seen the annual average number of Minor Consuming Alcohol arrests decline 81%. The number of arrests for minor’s operating a vehicle after consuming has declined 88%.  During this same time frame we have seen our average annual number of DUI arrests drop 43.2%. Project Drive is working. It continues to be a very popular program in our community.