The
Sheriff's Alcohol Field Enforcement Unit (S.A.F.E.) is composed of six
highly motivated Deputies whose primary goal is to reduce the number of
wrecks in our county through aggressive speed and alcohol violation
enforcement.
This
unit was the first Sheriff's Office traffic unit in the state of
North Carolina
. The unit was first formed in the early 80's through grants from the
Governor's Highway Safety program.
Ours has been a model for other traffic units throughout the
state. Professionalism is
the unwritten creed of this unit. We work closely with area agencies
including the
North Carolina State Highway
Patrol to conduct various checkpoints throughout the course of the year.
Our first and foremost concern is the protection of the citizens of
New
Hanover
County
including the children through the preventative patrolling of school
zone during school hours. The unit has the most modern equipment
available to include stop strips which are used to de-escalate
potentially dangerous vehicular pursuits before entering populated
areas. The unit also has at it's disposal six Harley-Davidson
motorcycles, also equipped with RADAR, which are used for special
escorts as well as additional speed enforcement tools.
