Posted on Dec 20, 2007

At the end of its first calendar year in Johnson County, the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program raked in $122,975 in revenue for the county, Sheriff Bob Alford said. The program was funded by a $25,000 grant from the Texas Department of Transportation, the sheriff said, that targeted specific intersections and roadways that citizens had complained about presenting dangerous traffic situations. Off-duty officers from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office were hired to patrol back roads that were targeted throughout the county to improve safety conditions, Alford said. “It gave us more visibility,” he said. The goal is safety and voluntary compliance, he said. The off-duty officers were hired for the patrol so the STEP program would not take away from regular patrol staff, Alford said. In case of emergency, STEP officers could help on-duty officers. Because of manpower restrictions, the sheriff’s office normally does not have time to work much traffic, Alford said. The program’s one-year period ended in October. By Leia Jobe - Cleburne Times Review