COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Richland County Traffic Safety Unit will be conducting checkpoints and saturations throughout Richland County.
Saturations, according to Capt. Rafael Gonzalez with the Richland County Sheriff's department, are when members of the Traffic Safety Unit and the Community Action team band together to help deter robberies.
These two divisions will patrol in Richland county business districts to help with burglaries and shoplifting.
Capt. Gonzalez says, "We want folks to be safe and increasing our visibility in these areas will help to deter crime." He goes on to say that he hopes that those in the community who see something that looks wrong or out of place will let local law enforcement know, "if you see something, say something."
According to the Richland County Sheriff's Department, this increase is to keep the community safe during the holiday season.
This increase will begin on Thursday, Dec. 19 and will last through the end of the year.
According to RCSD, Richland County has had 46 traffic collision fatalities in 2019.
The Traffic Safety unit hopes to enhance roadway safety and reduce the level of traffic collisions in Richland, preventing loss of life, severe injures, and property damage.