Georgia is ending a program that has allowed local police departments to inspect commercial vehicles for safety violations, reports an Atlanta TV station.


WSB-TV Atlanta obtained a memo sent to 20 local police agencies statewide, saying the Georgia Department of Public Safety would be ending its Memorandum of Understanding with each department, effective Sept. 30, and that authority to inspect commercial vehicles would become solely a state function.

The state legislature recently allocated $2 million for the agency to hire 63 civilians to staff weigh stations, reports WSB-TV, allowing the department to release sworn officers back onto the roads to conduct inspections. 247 state inspectors would staff the Motor Carrier Compliance Division, covering the state's 159 counties. 88 locally certified inspectors will be absorbed back into their local police departments.

Since January, according to the report, Motor Carrier Compliance Division inspectors conducted 59,418 inspections across Georgia; about 13% of the trucks inspected were taken off the road. During the same period, locally certified inspectors conducted 5,112 inspections, with about 20% taken out of service.

State officials told the TV reporter they feel commercial vehicle enforcement is a state responsibility and this move will allow local police to better respond to their own service calls.