The motto of police departments across the land is to serve and protect and that indeed rings true in Rugby.

The Rugby Police Department has made big strides over the past 14 months to serve and protect the public in the areas of traffic safety and detering impaired drivers from taking to the road.

Those efforts were recognized by the Department of Transportation (See: Making a difference, Page 1, Jan. 9 issue).

The DOT awarded the department a grant to continue with its safety programs and offer more.

In the past 14 months, the department has:

-Conducted several free infant and child safety seat checks around the community. Police and emergency personnel have educated parents on the proper way to fasten child seats in vehicles.

-Held a youth bike Roadeo to educate children on bike safety.

-In conjunction with the DOT, held an ATV safety course to educate riders on how to properly drive the machines.

-Established a Safe Communities chapter in Rugby in partnership with the state’s Safe Communities organization. The mission is to promote and conduct safety programs. The chapter, which includes a number of community representatives, works with law enforcement on setting goals to make the community a safer place, including promoting seatbelt use for teen drivers through a Click It Quick program.

-Conducted alcohol compliance checks at licensed liquor establishments to make sure they are not selling alcohol to minors. The department has also offered to work with bars to train servers on identifying fake/false IDs and how to handle difficult and intoxicated patrons.

-The department has also offered to give rides home to bar patrons who have had too much to drink, thus keeping impaired drivers off the streets.

Indeed, the department has been working hard over the past year and deserves our appreciation.

They are indeed living up to its motto.