TERRE HAUTE —
A 27-year veteran of the Terre Haute Police Department has been recognized by state and national agencies for his dedication to traffic safety enforcement.
Officer Orbie Dawson received a certificate of appreciation and a letter of commendation for his efforts during the 2012 Click It or Ticket mobilization in May. He worked 21 hours of overtime during the two-week initiative, making 66 enforcement contacts and issuing 45 citations for vehicle restraint violations.
Dawson was recognized Tuesday during a ceremony at THPD headquarters that was attended by fellow officers, Chief John Plasse, and with the presentation made by Mark Hartman, law enforcement liaison with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute/Traffic Safety Division.
For Dawson, the extra work is just part of a job that he enjoys doing.
“There’s a lot of us on the department doing the same job,” Dawson said, accepting congratulations following the ceremony. “It doesn’t get old. I still enjoy doing it.”
Plasse said Dawson works almost all of the traffic campaigns to promote safe driving. THPD uses roving patrols throughout the city to look for violators, and Dawson said he prefers to work the high traffic areas because that’s where he’ll find the most violators.
He said his object is to watch as many people as possible, making sure he sees a seat belt strapped across the shoulder of every vehicle occupant.
“I’ve had some come back later and thank me for it,” Dawson said, “because they get involved in a crash later, and realize the restraint helped.”
The ICJI’s Hartman gave some statistics about seatbelt use in Indiana, based on reports from police agencies statewide.
In 2011, 1,024 people were ejected from their vehicle due to being unrestrained. In Vigo County in 2011, there were 11 fatal crashes. Of those, seven people who died were unrestrained.
“When it comes to saving lives on Indiana roadways, certainly to include the streets of Terre Haute, there is nothing more important a law enforcement officer can do than get people to buckle up every time they are in a vehicle,” Hartman said.
Each May, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration directs funding through the ICJI’s traffic safety division for the national Click It or Ticket campaign. THPD is one Indiana agency that receives funding to do extra education and enforcement from May 18 to June 3.
Chief Plasse said enforcement efforts such as Click It or Ticket — and the current NHTSA campaign of Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over — are important for a safer community. And he had high praise for Dawson.
“He continues to go out and produce,” Plasse said of Dawson’s patrol efforts. “He’s not just collecting a paycheck. He’s out there enforcing the law.”
Hartman also noted that the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over initiative runs through Labor Day weekend. Last year, Indiana had 113 alcohol-related crashes during the holiday weekend. And, statewide the campaigned resulted in 13,465 traffic citations being issues, including 824 misdemeanor drunk driving arrests, and 141 felony drunk driving arrests.
For all of 2011, Indiana had 4,938 alcohol-related crashes, including 140 alcohol-related fatalities, and 2,077 total injuries. Offender demographics show that those most likely to be impaired at the time of the collision are males ages 21 to 34.
For more information about traffic safety, go online to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute at www.in.gov/cji.
Reporter Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @TribStarLisa.
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