Carleton Police awarded a grant for new safety equipment

The AAA Auto Club has helped provide high-visibility gear such as vests and traffic cones to the village shelves.

Throughout his law enforcement career, Officer Gene Taylor was struck by vehicles three times while directing traffic.

Although he was wearing a safety vest, Taylor, a part-time patrol officer for the Carleton Village Police Department, said older reflective equipment sometimes struggled with the darkness in rural communities.

“I was on dark roads, and all I had was a flashlight,” Taylor said. “Because of the oncoming traffic and headlights, they just want to see me. It was never serious because traffic was moving slow, but it could have been much worse.”

It was these types of preventable injuries that inspired the department to seek supplementary funds to purchase updated, high-visibility safety equipment to protect traffic officers and other first-responders while on the highways.

The department’s vision was met Friday morning at the station when the American Automobile Association (AAA) formally presented the agency with a check for nearly $ 750 to purchase much-needed traffic incident management equipment, including high-visibility vests with reflective tapes, collapsible flashing traffic cones and traffic safety wands.

As part of the annual AAA Traffic Safety Grant, the department was selected among about a half dozen other police and fire agencies throughout the state seeking new safety equipment unavailable through existing financial resources. “With the equipment having a lot of past years, this is quite an improvement,” Taylor said.

“When we started, we all had our uniforms and a flashlight to direct traffic, but people would still see you. The reflective vests, wands, and cones will help protect our first responders.”

When applying for the grant, Taylor said he and Chief Roy Johnson specifically proposed purchasing high-visibility equipment because of the darkness in both the village and throughout Ash Township.

When directing traffic, the department targets each of its officers to be equipped with high visibility safety vests and flashing traffic wand, along with bright traffic cones to alert motorists and protect other first responders in the area.

The total cost for the vests, wands, and cones came to $ 731.15, purchased in full by AAA. Now every Carleton police vehicle is equipped with at least one adjustable news and wand, as well as a tote filled with portable, collapsible traffic cones.

Any time the officers, including three full-time officers and up to eight part-timers, are on the roadways – excluding traffic stops – they may be required to wear the vests, Taylor said.

The hope, he added, is that the equipment will not only reduce but prevent injury, while also helping the department to exceed safety standards set by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“This is exactly what we want these grants to do, as far as saving lives,” said Adrienne Woodland, AAA spokesperson.

The Traffic Safety Grant program has been providing funding for potentially life-saving equipment throughout the state since 1993, Woodland said.

Since its conception, the program has provided nearly $ 1.5 million worth of traffic safety equipment donated to agencies through Michigan.

Officials say the grant program is part of the AAA history of traffic safety advocacy efforts.

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