Gulf Shores, Ala. – (OBA) – Promoting safe streets is one of the top goals of the patrol division of the Gulf Shores Police Department, Deputy Chief Dan Netemeyer said.

“The ultimate goal and our main priority, and it’s a large umbrella, is for us to create a safe environment for the residents and guests to the city,” Netemeyer said. “There are several ways we have to do that, but one of the main ways we do that is to enhance our traffic enforcement to reduce accidents. Nobody wants to go on vacation and their primary memory of their vacation here in Gulf Shores is a vehicle accident where sometimes, unfortunately, people get hurt.”

The city recently started a program with the new Advanced Auto Parts store in Gulf Shores that Netemeyer says will assist police efforts to make streets safer for motorists.

“Since 2020, Advance has launched more than 60 ‘Advancing Our Roads’ gift card programs in collaboration with law enforcement,” a press release from Advance Auto Parts.

At the store opening on May 2, the company announced it was partnering with the Gulf Shores Police Department to give motorists pulled over for faulty or broken equipment a gift card from the store to help fix their cars.

“Advance’s store team will donate $1,000 in gift cards (100 total gift cards) to GSPD to kick off the program,” the release states. “When police officers observe a minor equipment infraction – such as a broken headlight or taillight – they may stop the motorist and issue a $10 Advance gift card to encourage motorists to repair their vehicles. This also contributes to safer local roadways.”

Playing right into what Netemeyer says is one of the primary goals for the department.

“They reached out to us a couple of months ago about this program and it was a no-brainer,” Netemeyer said. “We immediately said we’d participate in it for a number of reasons.”

Netemeyer said while it works hand-in-hand with Gulf Shores Police efforts for safer streets, it does not mean an exorbitant number of tickets will be written by patrol officers.

“We are very heavy-handed in our traffic enforcement but we’re not that heavy-handed in writing tickets,” Netemeyer said. “It’s more of a visibility and awareness is how we do it. For example, we do about 7,000 traffic stops a year and we write about 1,100 tickets. It’s not about revenue, it’s not about writing tickets. There are no quotas. It’s all about slowing people down, increasing awareness which ultimately reduces accidents.”

The cards are redeemable at any Advanced Auto Parts store and the new store is located at 3808 Gulf Shores Pkwy.