East Greenwich Township police are taking a message about designated driving on the road as part of an effort to prevent impaired driving crashes in Gloucester County. The South Jersey police department has partnered with the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers, becoming the 51st agency with a HERO Campaign patrol car and the first in Gloucester County. “The goal is to save lives,” East Greenwich Township Police Chief Matthew Brenner said. The patrol car serves as what Brenner called a “rolling billboard,” carrying a straightforward message for drivers. “Be a hero. Be a designated driver,” Patrolman Randy Jenkins said. The John R. Elliott HERO Campaign partners with police departments, bars and taverns, colleges and professional sports teams, including the Phillies, to encourage people to use designated drivers. “We partner with police, bars and taverns, colleges, professional sports teams like the Phillies and the hero in the hero campaign is the designated driver,” said Bill Elliott, chairman and CEO of the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign. Elliott and his family started the campaign shortly after the death of his son, John, in 2000. The 22-year-old had just graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and was driving home to New Jersey to celebrate his mother’s birthday when he was killed by a drunk driver. “Out of that tragedy and out of our love for our son we created two things,” Elliott said. One was a movement supporting John’s Law. This August marks 25 years since the law was enacted. “It requires police to impound the cars of drunk drivers for 12 hours to keep them from getting back behind the wheel,” Elliott said. Brenner said the law has made a difference. “And it really has limited the amount of DWI crashes that we’ve seen post arrest,” Brenner said. The family also created the HERO Campaign, which has continued to expand into communities across the region. “Being the 51ST vehicle is great, but we love the fact that we are the first in Gloucester County to really be rolling around as that rolling billboard,” Brenner said. The East Greenwich Township Police Department has also intensified its focus on enforcement, according to Brenner. The department has seen its number of DWI arrests double over the past four years. Two officers have received awards from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for their enforcement efforts. “It’s important to get impaired drivers off the road. We have seen an uptick in not only drunk driving with alcohol but also impaired driving with drugs,” Patrolman Charles McLaughlin said. Brenner said combining enforcement with the campaign’s message is important. “I think you are just seeing an increase in people on the roadway that may not necessarily have a designated driver so the messaging in combination with the enforcement is very important,” Brenner said. For Elliott, the campaign’s continued growth is a way to honor his son while trying to prevent other families from experiencing a similar loss. “If he knew that we saved one family and one person because of this hero campaign I think he would be proud and I think he has been,” Elliott said. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less