Public safety officials in Dekalb County hope a new grant will help them cut down on dangerous and fatal car crashes.

The Dekalb Police Department is getting a grant worth $149,468.80 from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety’s Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (HEAT) program.

According to the agency’s website, HEAT is designed to educate the public and enforce laws related to impaired and aggressive driving. Each officer is armed with materials to educate Georgia residents about state laws that regulate aggressive and impaired driving.

“Education and enforcement must go hand-in-hand for the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and its statewide partners to be successful in reducing the number of crashes, fatalities and injuries on our highways,” the website states.

Dekalb police plans to use the funds to tackle dangerous driving habits like drunk driving and speeding. It also hopes to educate the public about bad driving habits and encourage them to follow road rules such as wearing a seat belt.

According to the HEAT website, teams are out and about patrolling Georgia’s roadways to keep drivers safe from aggressive and impaired drivers.

Formed out of many different jurisdictional agencies across the state, the HEAT teams are an elite force of law enforcement agents dedicated to the motoring public of Georgia.