Agency has applied for new grant for this fiscal year
Personnel of the Sarasota Police Department dedicated nearly 450 hours to roadway safety enforcement during the 2024-25 fiscal year through a program for which the agency received a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation, the department has announced.
That fiscal year ended on Sept. 30.
From December 2024 through September 2025, a news release explains, “members of the Traffic Unit conducted nearly 900 traffic stops and addressed 1,100 violations, including speeding, improper lane changes, cellphone use in active school zones, driving under the influence, suspended licenses, unregistered vehicles and seat belt violations.”
In response to a Sarasota News Leader question, Genevieve Judge, supervisor of the Police Department’s Public Information Office, explained that this grant was not related to FDOT’s High Visibility Enforcement Program, in which the agency has participated over a number of years.
The Florida Law Enforcement Liaison Program website explains that the FDOT “State Safety Office awards subgrants to traffic safety partners engaged in priority programs and activities aimed at improving traffic safety and reducing crashes, serious injuries, and fatalities. These subgrants may support efforts to address traffic safety deficiencies, expand ongoing activities, or develop new programs.”
The website adds, “Subgrants are provided to state and local safety-related agencies as ‘seed’ money to assist in the development and implementation of programs targeting traffic safety priority areas. Funding for these subgrants is allocated annually by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) using a formula based on population and road miles. Occasionally, additional funding may be available for projects in other program areas if there is documented evidence of a specific, identified problem.”
For the 2026 fiscal year, an FDOT ranking of Florida cities with populations between 15,000 and 74,999 shows that Sarasota is in the top 40% for the number of serious injuries and fatalities suffered from 2019 through 2023 in the following types of incidents: Aging Road Users (Drivers 65+), Distracted Driving, Impaired Driving, Motorcyclists, Occupant Protection, Pedestrian or Bicycle, Speeding or Aggressive Driving, Teen Drivers, and Work Zones.
Out of all those categories, the City of Sarasota saw the highest number of incidents fall under the Distracted Driving heading: 41. Teen Drivers was second, with 33.
Further, an FDOT report providing Florida Uniform Traffic Citation statistics for the Sarasota Police Department for the 2024 calendar year shows that the agency’s personnel wrote a total of 11,353 citations for non-criminal moving violations. Of those, a chart notes, 5,645 were for red-light camera violations, while 2,951 were for speeding. Another 1,319 citations were for careless driving.
In regard to criminal violations in 2024, 264 DUI violations were recorded, the chart says. Another 456 individuals were charged with driving while their licenses were suspended or revoked.
“Every stop, every reminder, and every citation reflects our commitment to protecting lives,” said Officer Jason Frank of the Sarasota Police Department Traffic Unit in the SPD release. “Roadway safety is about more than enforcement,” he continued. “It’s about encouraging patience, attentiveness and responsibility.”
Officers with the Sarasota Police Department remind drivers “that taking a few extra minutes before leaving home or showing patience in traffic can make the difference between arriving safely or not arriving at all,” the release points out.
“Although this grant period has ended, the Sarasota Police Department’s focus on traffic safety continues,” the release notes. “Officers remain committed to reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities and to making Sarasota’s roadways safer for all who live, work and travel throughout the City of Sarasota.”
The Traffic Unit has applied for the same type of grant for the 2025-26 fiscal year, the release added, “in an effort to keep our roadways as safe as possible.”