PennDOT honored three local police departments and three individual officers for their efforts in the most recent Aggressive Driving Enforcement and Education Campaign, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the North Central Highway Safety Network. They were also honored by state Sen. David Argall.

Certificates and lapel pins were presented to Tamaqua patrolman Rick Bekesy, Rush Township patrolman Bradley Hess and West Penn Township Chief Brian Johnson. Johnson was unable to attend but sent patrolman Richton Penn to accept on his and the department's behalf. The awards were presented by Robin Rivera, law enforcement liaison for the NCHSN.Argall thanked the men for "the work you do on a daily basis. I know it's not everyone who gets the importance of traffic law enforcement. We could build the safest highway in the world, but we will always need officers to keep it safe."The campaigns are conducted in waves, with Wave 2 of 2017 being completed on April 30. A total of 206 local law enforcement agencies and 15 state police barracks participated.During that wave, officers made contact with 17,317 drivers, resulting in 16,105 citations/arrests. There were 164 felony arrests, including; 19 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol; 13 arrests for DUI of a controlled substance; and six DUI arrests for a combination of drugs and alcohol. Officers issued 10,546 tickets for speeding.The third wave will be held from July 6 through Aug. 27.