Officers with the Sarasota Police Department will be taking part in Operation Southern Shield.  The Sarasota Police Department is partnering with law enforcement agencies from throughout Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.   

Operation Southern Shield will focus on the busy summertime travel period when injury and fatality crashes increase significantly.  The high visibility enforcement and awareness campaign will work to reduce fatalities and serious injuries by having motorists obey speed limits.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speeding has been a factor in nearly one-third of all traffic deaths in the United States during the past 20 years.  In 2017, speeding killed 9,717 people, approximately 26 percent of that year’s nationwide traffic fatalities. 

“The most important thing about driving is being safe behind the wheel,” said Sarasota Police Officer Jason Frank, Traffic Unit.  “One of our primary goals in the Traffic Unit is to keep our community and those passing through, safe.”

In 2018 in the City of Sarasota, Officers issued 314 citations and/or warnings for not wearing seat belts, 3,216 citations and/or warnings for speeding and 1,295 citations and/or warnings for driving while license suspended.  There were also 142 arrests for driving under the influence (DUI).

Operation Southern Shield launched in 2017. 

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