Watertown Police Receive $23,620 Grant for DUI Enforcement, Safety Ads and Officer Training
- Steve Jurrens
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - As part of a streamlined consent agenda on Monday evening, the Watertown City Council unanimously authorized the Watertown Police Department (WPD) to apply for and accept an explicit FY2027 Office of Highway Safety Grant. The federal funding package, totaling $23,620, splits resources across frontline traffic enforcement, localized public safety marketing, and advanced continuing education for specialized drug recognition personnel.
The grant allocation arrives at a critical juncture for regional traffic safety, matching a statewide push to curb an upward trend in alcohol-impaired roadway fatalities.
Targeting Zero Fatalities: The Data Driving the Grant
The technical narrative submitted to state highway authorities highlights a persistent problem across South Dakota roadways. According to the South Dakota Accident Records System (SDARS), alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities across the state have climbed markedly since reaching a historical low of 28 fatalities in 2019. By 2024, that annual statewide figure more than doubled to 59 deaths.
While the City of Watertown recorded one alcohol-impaired fatality during Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2024, local law enforcement objectives are set on complete eradication.
"The Watertown Police Department will conduct high visibility enforcement efforts throughout the year in an effort to support the state-wide objective of reducing impaired driving fatalities and to maintain to zero impaired driving fatality crashes... in FFY2027," the department's formal project description states.
The department's localized baseline benchmarks aim to keep alcohol-related fatality crashes at absolute zero, while aggressively tracking and maintaining an enforcement standard of at least 302 annual impaired driving citations through September 30, 2027.
Funding Allocation Breakdowns
The approved $23,620 grant is mathematically partitioned into three operational areas, each designed to tackle impaired operating habits through different avenues of deterrence:
Funding Category | Amount Allocated | Operational Purpose |
Personal Services | $14,500 | Funding dedicated traffic overtime hours for targeted DUI saturation patrols. |
Marketing & Advertising | $3,250 | Financing digital public service messaging and local billboard placement. |
Travel & Training | $5,870 | Sending two specialized officers to advanced continuing education conferences. |
The $14,500 overtime pool is legally restricted to funding dedicated shifts during known high-risk windows. Officers will be deployed to designated high-crash zones and high-violation sectors, operating outside of standard shift rotations to run saturation patrols and participate in national mobilization crackdowns.
Airport Terminals and Advanced DRE Re-Certifications
The marketing tier of the grant introduces an intentional, highly localized advertising layout. The WPD will deploy digital public safety messaging across various public billboards throughout the city. Notably, a portion of the $3,250 advertising budget is earmarked for a digital display positioned inside the Watertown Regional Airport terminal. The terminal messaging is specifically calculated to capture the attention of patrons utilizing the airport’s restaurant and bar, commercial flight passengers, and car rental service users.
The final $5,870 training allocation will fund travel and registration expenses to dispatch two Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) officers to the 2026 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Impaired Driving and Traffic Safety Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.
DRE personnel undergo rigorous training to detect drivers operating under the influence of narcotics, poly-substances, or medical triggers that bypass standard breathalyzer equipment. The Louisville conference fulfills mandatory continuing education credits required for these officers to maintain their technical certifications. The city will satisfy its local match requirement via a "soft match" of $1,467.50, utilizing standard regular-time salary hours worked by officers during training.
The grant-funded enforcement operations and corresponding billboard placements are scheduled to go live on October 1, 2026, running uninterrupted through September 30, 2027.
