The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office has a new and up-to-date device to make county roads safer.
The ECSO received a new breath-testing device purchased with an $8,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

The department received the grant to purchase the Intoxilyzer 9000, which will replace the agency’s Intoxilyzer 5000 model, which has been in service since the mid-1990s.

The GBI approved the Intoxilyzer 9000, manufactured by CMI, Inc., for use as the state’s new standard breath-testing device in January. The state will be phasing out use of the Intoxilyzer 5000 by December 2015.

The GOHS grant was awarded to the ECSO in recognition of the agency’s active participation in the Southeastern Traffic Enforcement Network. The network includes agencies from Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, Bulloch, Candler, Screven and Evans counties.

Deputies from the ECSO have begun attending training classes to become certified to use the new device.

To be eligible to receive the grant, agencies must attend monthly network meetings, conduct road checks in the agency’s jurisdiction, and also report monthly traffic statistics to the GOHS.