(Washington DC) -- The DeKalb County Police Department "Strategic Traffic Accident Reduction" (STAR) Team was one of the ten community programs that was honored, along with Elizabeth Dole, for their work in fighting drunk driving by the National Commission Against Drunk Driving at its 13^th annual awards luncheon on Monday, December 8, 1997.

The STAR Team received the top Law Enforcement Award for it's innovative team who works diligently to modify the driving behavior of individuals in the areas of occupant safety, speed and especially impaired through extensive public education and stringent law enforcement. Since its inception in October 1994, the STAR Team has set goals to complete numerous DUI arrests each month, conduct five public information exchanges monthly, and track its conviction rate. The team has consistently met or exceeded these goals and currently maintains a 97% conviction rate on DUI cases. Their education efforts with the public, other police officers and the judiciaries makes everyone in DeKalb County partners in the solution to the drunk and impaired driving problem.