CAPE SELECTED FOR TRIAL SAFETY PROJECT

More funding for Cape Girardeau's driving-while-intoxicated police patrol, Safety Village and other programs is in store thanks to a new federal grant and program.

Dan Needham, director of the state Division of Highway Safety, said Thursday that Cape Girardeau has been selected as Missouri's pilot city for the Safe Community Program.

Needham, who was visiting the city Thursday, said his staff recommended to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that Cape Girardeau host the trial program because of its history with the Community Traffic Safety Program. The CTSP has promoted awareness of traffic safety through special projects for nine years.

Needham praised the program's aggressive approach to making the public aware of safety issues and said CTSP management would be needed for the Safe Community Program.

"It's good that he and his staff think so highly of this community and the police department," said Sharee Galnore, coordinator of the CTSP and of the new Safe Community Program.

Galnore works out of the Cape Girardeau Police Department to organize and plan the projects within the budget provided by the Division of Highway Safety.

Needham said about $130,000 -- $70,000 more than last year's CTSP budget -- will be awarded to Cape Girardeau to be used for projects that promote a safe community. Because Cape Girardeau has been selected as a pilot city, it will give up the CTSP to participate in the Safe Community Program.

In addition to funneling money to put more officers on the streets looking for drunken drivers, Galnore said the CTSP promotes projects related to traffic safety, including training on child safety seats and awareness of seat belts. Seat belt usage increased from 7 to 74 percent while the CTSP has been operating, she said.

Another CTSP project, Safety Village at Fountain and Park streets, teaches children about bicycle safety.

"The bulk of what we will be doing will be the same projects," Galnore said of the new Safe Community Program. "But we can do more of them and expand."

A formal kickoff and announcement of the Safe Community Program by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is scheduled for March 15. A local pediatrician, Dr. John J. Russell, will be named chairman of the program.