Responsibility.org and Shaq on Capitol Hill
On November 30th, we were back with NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and our partners in our nation’s capital for a special briefing on impaired driving. Over 200 staffers, law enforcement officers and impaired driving experts were present for a continuation on the efforts we announced a year ago: strategies to help fight drug-impaired driving. The discussion on the urgent need for additional training and resources for law enforcement officers offered insights on what we’ve done to provide support and our commitments for the upcoming year.
Our President and CEO, Ralph Blackman, kicked off the discussion:
“Law enforcement is the frontline of defense against impaired driving. That’s why we are funding specialized law enforcement training.”
Shaq, started his day with a car ride talk with our friend Tommy Mcfly of 94.7 Fresh FM.
Check out @SHAQ and his GIANT rock! We talked serving in a future Presidential Cabinet, Cops, Basketball and #Responsibility@goFAARpic.twitter.com/kQyUqP5Dmg
— Tommy McFLY (@TommyMcFLY) December 1, 2016
Shaq then joined our panel to showcase the results of our efforts and future plans:
“Responsibility.org is providing two years of funding to the Governors Highway Safety Association for law enforcement training grants. 2016 was the first year of grants. Florida, Illinois, Nevada and Texas received $20,000 each and provided matching funds. As a result, more than 500 officers were certified as DREs or received ARIDE training this year. Today, I’m here to announce the second round of grants. In the spring of 2017, we will award more grants to states and will train many more officers.”
Our partners captured some important parts of the discussion:
Impaired driving is a threat to the safety of our roadways and communities. Thank you to all our partners and followers for your continued support to help #EndImpairedDriving.
Were you able to join us? If not, you can watch the whole event on our Facebook page.
