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About the Program

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The Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), funds sobriety checkpoints throughout California. Grant funds are awarded on a competitive basis using several criteria, including performance on previous grants and the amount of funds requested for the proposed activities. The goal is to reduce the number of victims killed and injured in alcohol-involved crashes in participating cities.  The OTS mini-grants are administered by the University of California, Berkeley Traffic Safety Center (TSC).

promotion requirements for grantees

Mini-grantees are required to inform their AVOID County Coordinator at least fourteen (14) days in advance of the operation. Mini-grantees must: develop and distribute a separate press release for each checkpoint operation unless multiple checkpoints are to be conducted within a seven (7) day period; send a draft or each press release to pio@ots.ca.gov for approval at least fourteen (14) days in advance of the operation; submit to the TSC copies of all newspaper articles and short descriptions of broadcast news stories which relate to checkpoint operations or results.

 

KEY TSC CONTACT INFORMATION

Email: checkpoint@berkeley.edu
Phone: Sharleen Rauch, (510) 643-1774 
Fax: (510) 643-9922
Mailing address:
Sobriety Checkpoint Program
UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center
2614 Dwight Way, MC #7374
Berkeley, CA 94720-7374

Sobriety Checkpoint Mini-Grants for 2007-2008

Administered by the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center

GRANT INFORMATION

    In December 2007, the TSC conducted training sessions for mini-grantees. View the PowerPoint ™slide show from the training sessions.

    Sample Grant (PDF)

How to receive reimbursement

    Claims must be submitted using TSC's claim form, which is an Excel spreadsheet. A sample showing a filled out claim form is here as a PDF.

How to report operational data

    Grantees must report operational data for all grant-funded checkpoints. This must be done using the TSC's online system. Please log in here to submit operational data for each quarter.

    Samples are provided below:

what are the dates for the 2007-2008 checkpoint periods?

The mini-grant period is October 1, 2007-September 30, 2008. This period cannot be extended. Conducting checkpoints during the NHTSA-specified Winter Holiday and Labor Day Mobilization periods is a priority for OTS and NHTSA. The Winter Holiday Mobilization runs from December 14, 2007-January 3, 2008, and the Labor Day Mobilization runs from August 17, 2008-September 3, 2008. Additional checkpoints may be conducted outside of these mobilization periods.

To maximize the traffic safety benefit of checkpoint operations, OTS recommends mini-grantees conduct combination DUI/Driver License (DL) checkpoints that include 30-day vehicle impounds. However, OTS does not require agencies to combine driver license checks with sobriety checkpoint operations.

Sobriety Checkpoint Mini-Grant Program Timeline for Applications and Awards (PDF)

What Costs does the mini-grant cover?

Mini-grantees are reimbursed only for the actual overtime cost for checkpoint operation(s) up to the contractual cost per checkpoint and up to the award amount. Indirect costs are not covered.

What are other requirements and recommendations?

All checkpoints must be conducted after 1800 hours. For combination DUI/DL checkpoints, mini-grantees must inform the public (via a press release) that driver licenses will be checked at the DUI/DL checkpoint. Also, in accordance with the California Attorney General’s Office, all DUI/DL checkpoint operations must be set up with signs reading, "DUI/Driver License Checkpoint Ahead."

special note about excel® Files

Documents ending in .xls may require the ability to view an Excel document. Users who do not have Microsoft Excel® (the full application) on their computers will need to download the Excel Viewer. This is a free download from Microsoft® Excel Viewer.