News Releases

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced today that the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) — through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – has awarded a grant to the office’s DUI Training and Prosecution Section (DTAPS).

“This grant will continue to further the office’s DTAP’s ongoing efforts to combat impaired driving by providing essential resources to deputy district attorneys and law enforcement in the most effective way to investigate and prosecute DUI and impaired driving cases,” District Attorney Gascón said. “Driving under the influence continues to pose a serious threat to public safety, and it is our duty to pursue justice for victims and hold offenders accountable.”

Since 2016, the District Attorney’s Office has taken a leadership role in training local law enforcement personnel and deputy district attorneys to investigate and prosecute cases involving alcohol and drug-related traffic offenses, which also aims to prevent impaired driving and reduce alcohol and drug-related fatalities and injuries. Education and enforcement are necessary to counteract the rise in impaired driving. DTAPS was implemented to further the goals of preventing impaired driving and reducing alcohol and drug-related fatalities and injuries.

The funding from OTS will also help improve the training tools and resources used to work with police agencies and increase the number of officers who are certified Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) in Los Angeles County. DREs are in a unique position to articulate the effects of impairment caused by the various drug categories and they can determine if someone was impaired by drugs, alcohol or a combination of the two, while driving.

As part of this grant, OTS will partially fund a DRE through the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation. While working in DTAPS, the DRE will be made available to all deputy district attorneys for DUI-related issues.