‘UnPHILtered’: Indiana Criminal Justice Institute restarts S.A.V.E. Campaign
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Class is back in session and that means school buses are back on the road across the state. Over the next few months, officers with more than 200 Indiana law enforcement agencies will be stepping up patrols to keep kids safe as they get on and off the bus.
It’s all part of the back-to-school Stop Arm Violation Enforcement (SAVE) campaign. The patrols are funded through grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and administered by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI).
The program, originally launched in 2019, seeking to prevent unsafe driving as students head back to the classroom.
Devon McDonald, the executive director of the ICJI, joined News 8’s Phil Sanchez on “UnPHILtered” to explain how the SAVE program works.
“These are additional patrols that would take place along with the traditional enforcement activities that a law enforcement agency would work with a school on anyway, so this is just above and beyond the normal,” McDonald said. “We invite these law enforcement agencies to come and participate in the program if they choose to. We have some law enforcement agency this the only program they participate in, that’s how much they believe in this particular program, and how much they really want to provide safety or safe bus route travel for the kids at school.”
According to the most recent data from the Indiana Department of Education, thousands of bus drivers observed a total of 2,041 stop-arm violations in one day. That data was collected on April 26, 2022.
According to the ICJI, disregarding a school bus stop arm is a Class A misdemeanor and violators could pay up to $10,000 in fines, have their license suspended up to 90 days for the first offense or up to one year for the second.
The SAVE campaign runs from Aug. 1 to Sept. 15.
To watch the full interview, click on the video above.