Both the Manlius and DeWitt police departments received awards for their traffic safety efforts at the annual Onondaga County Traffic Safety Advisory Board last week.
The AAA Community Traffic Safety Program is an award given to communities of all sizes who address local traffic safety issues. It considers basic crash statistics and the presence and effectiveness of traffic safety leadership groups and programs in a community, according to the AAA website. The awards progress from honorable mention to bronze, silver, gold and platinum.
The Manlius Police Department received the highest level of recognition, platinum, from AAA at the Jan. 14 recognition ceremony for both traffic safety and bicycle injury and seat belt use. This is the ninth year the Manlius police have received the AAA traffic safety award, and the seventh consecutive year to receive the platinum level award.
Manlius Police Officer Shawn Gwilt also received an individual award for speed awareness, while Officer Ross Carnie received an award for occupant protection.
“Our officers are out there every day checking out traffic and making sure it’s running smooth,” said Manlius Chief of Police Fran Marlowe. “They’re out there patrolling and working and keeping the town of Manlius safe.”
State-wide, only 11 total platinum honors were given this year, including Brighton, Brockport, Camillus, Freeport, Garden City, Liverpool, New York City, Oswego, Rome and White Plains, according to AAA.
Manlius also was recognized in the January edition of “The Police Chief Magazine” in an article about bicycle and pedestrian safety programs and incentives the department uses to promote safety in the town.
According to the magazine, in 2013 the department issued 20 bike helmets, 102 safety belts and 300 certificates for free ice cream at Sno Top to children who were wearing helmets. Since 2001, pedestrian and bicyclist involved collisions are down 28 percent through these programs.
“It’s showing, with statistics that pedestrian and bicycle accidents are down, that it’s working,” Marlowe said.
At the same recognition ceremony, the Town of DeWitt Police Department received gold level recognition from the AAA Community Traffic Safety Program. This is the seventh year the department has received this recognition.
In addition to the award, officers Luda Ammann and Andy Fusco received the 2014 aggressive criminal enforcement award from the Onondaga County Traffic Safety Advisory Board.
“We appreciate it,” said DeWitt police sergeant Chase Bilodeau, who put together the application for the award. “We do a lot of work involved in traffic concerns and try to be proactive when we receive traffic concerns from residents.”
Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].
