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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Wednesday that she had awarded $5.6 million in grants to support statewide programs for the increase of public safety on highways and in communities.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice made these funds available to the state, and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) will administer the grants. The state’s four regional traffic safety offices will cover overtime for law enforcement officers, which will allow state troopers and sheriffs’ deputies to conduct extra patrols and checkpoints during peak travel times with an emphasis on targeting speeding, seat belt violations and impaired driving. The University of Alabama will also use a grant to continue projects and programs that help collect traffic safety data for the state.

The Southeast Alabama Regional Highway Safety Office, which serves Pike County alongside Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva Houston, Lowndes, Montgomery, Russell and Tuscaloosa Counties, is receiving $1.14 million in grant funding. Its offices is located at Enterprise State Community College in Enterprise.

Additionally, the North Central Alabama Highway Safety Office will receive $1.42 million, while the East Central Alabama Highway Safety Office receives $1.66 million and the Southwest Regional Highway Safety Office receives $993,266. The University of Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety will also receive $203,558.

“Public safety is a core mission of my administration,” Ivey said. “Our state, regional, county and municipal law enforcement officers do a tremendous job keeping our state and her communities safe. I am pleased to award these grants to support the programs that help our officers receive the training and resources to fulfill their mission to serve and protect our communities and our highways.”

Ivey also awarded two grants, totaling $240,000, for law enforcement equipment and forensics training statewide. A total of $150,000 was awarded to Jacksonville State’s Center for Applied Forensics, to provide training to law enforcement officers from across the state in recognizing, preserving and collecting items of evidence routinely encountered by patrol personnel and investigators working complex crime scenes. The Alabama Department of Corrections’ Law Enforcement Services Division will also receive $90,000 to purchase three handheld drug analyzers.

In addition, Ivey awarded $103,343 in grant funding to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to ensure compliance of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which requires sex offenders to register and notify authorities of where they are living once they are released from prison. ALEA will use the funds to maintain compliance of the law by maintaining current cases to adhere to federal and state laws.