AUGUSTA, Ga. ()- One of Sheriff Eugene Brantley’s biggest goals since he took office is to decrease traffic fatalities in Richmond County. 

Now, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has received a grant to help make our roads safer.

They’ve already responded to a lot of accidents in 2025, and we’re also still in the middle of the period known as the “100 Deadliest Days”.

But deputies say these federal dollars could make a difference. 

As Sheriff Brantley continues working to make Richmond County safer, one of the areas he wants to address is safety on the roads. 

“We’re probably close to 5,000 accidents just for the first 6 months this year. We’re at 16 to 17 fatalities for the year, and we’ve been averaging 40 or more over the last few years—so we’ve got to reduce those,” said Major Robbie Silas.

That’s why Brantley installed the HEAT Team—or Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic—a small group of highly trained deputies put in charge to help with those numbers. 

“They will be out going after aggressive drivers, impaired drivers, and enforcing the traffic laws throughout the community,” Silas said.

After working with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, the Sheriff’s Office secured a $1.2 million grant for the HEAT Team to have 3 state-of-the-art patrol vehicles with unique features.

We talked to one of the team members, Major Trevor Gordon.

“We have a cool new radar feature. Basically, we’re sitting on the side of the highway running any type of speed, or sitting there doing reports, turn on the radar mode and it’ll let us know any time someone comes up near the car,” said Gordon. “It’ll automatically lock the doors, and it’ll set off a loud beeping noise when people walk up to the car. Really cool feature, great for officer safety.”

Just a few days ago, the Sheriff’s office arrested two 17-year-olds in a road rage shooting on I-20.

But, deputies say these new vehicles could help to reduce those kinds of incidents. 

“With all the features that we have in these new cars, I definitely think it’ll make us safer, community safer, and most importantly public driving,” Gordon said.

“People don’t realize how many people have been killed on our roadways, and this right here is going to be a big deterrent,” said Silas.

That $1.2 million will be spread out over the next 5 years, covering costs for the vehicles and deputies’ salaries.

With July 4th events in the Garden City this weekend, deputies will be planning to have these vehicles ready to patrol our roads.