Kendall County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Langston had the hardest of simple choices on Wednesday – pick one of two keys.
Choose correctly and a brand-new, fully equipped, Ford Interceptor police sport-utility vehicle would be headed to Kendall County. Grab the wrong one and the vehicle valued at approximately $45,000 would go to the Pingree Grove Police Department as grand prize in the Illinois Traffic Safety Challenge.
Red and blue flashing lights immediately let Langston know he made the right choice after nine misses by other departments from around Illinois.
“It took eight years of trying,” Langston said after an exhale of relief.
Langston has been with the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office since 2001 and spent the last eight years heading the traffic challenge program. The Illinois Traffic Safety Challenge, a program coordinated by the Illinois Association of Police Chiefs Traffic Committee, promotes a friendly competition between police departments throughout Illinois. It encourages departments to find innovative and creative ways to emphasize overall traffic safety, vehicle occupant protection through use of seat belts and child seats and efforts to combat speeding and impaired driving.
Departments submit applications describing their community actions in those particular areas and awards are handed out each August at the Midwest Security & Police Conference/Expo held in Tinley Park. Kendall County earned a shot at the grand prize by virtue of taking first place among county sheriff’s offices with between 51 and 100 sworn deputies.
Langston said the sheriff’s office has the unique opportunity to stress traffic safety in the rural territory it patrols, as well as in smaller communities within the department’s jurisdiction. Deputies look at crash data and citizen complaints submitted online through the sheriff’s office website to assess where and how to combat particular issues on county roadways.
“The guys do a really good job” based on what they see and hear, Langston offered. “We’ve all really tried to stress to the deputies about the core areas. I think a lot of them have bought in.”
Langston noted two immediate benefits of winning the SUV stacked with emergency lighting, video system and other goodies. For one, it gives deputies a tangible result of the work that goes into promoting traffic safety. And, a squad car went down recently, which means the new addition is certainly welcome, according to Langston.
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Dan Campana is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News