Reidsville police chief, mayor celebrate first federal safety grant while citing data tracking gap

REIDSVILLE, Ga. (WTOC) - The Reidsville Police Department has received its first-ever federally funded grant to improve road safety, as the city works to manage growth.

Mayor Vickie Nail said thousands of people live in Reidsville, more than what was reported in the most recent census. She said revamping downtown, building more housing developments, and improving city responses are on her agenda to keep up with growth.

Chief sought funding after taking role

Police Chief Matt Lynn took the job in late 2024. He previously ran the Bryan County Sheriff’s Office traffic division, where he learned how the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety can help fund department needs.

“When I took this job and I realized, you know, what kind of uphill battle we were in to get the place to where it needed to be, and get the staffing where it needed to be, that was my number one priority was to reach out,” Lynn said.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Reidsville police receive first federal grant to boost traffic safety

Lynn said the department had to gather data that had not been tracked in recent years to qualify for the federal funding.

“I think we’re right around 2010 right now, we’re still grinding to push to where we need to be updated because we’ve just got the two years of data now,” Lynn said.

Because of the initiative, the city’s police department received its first-ever federally funded grant, totaling $32,800, through the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for the Reidsville Police Department, and I want to congratulate Chief Matt Lynn and every member of our department,” Nail said when we reported on this last week. “This funding is not only an achievement for the department, but an investment in the safety of every citizen who travels our roads.”

Impaired driving arrests up 800%

City records showed zero impaired driving arrests in 2024, according to Lynn. Since he took over, that number is up 800% because of their tracking operations now and now with 11 officers patrolling the area.

“We were able to build that data to show that we do have a problem, we just didn’t have an active police department,” Lynn said. “My number one priority as a law enforcement officer is active criminal enforcement.”

Lynn said they will seek more funding as they collect more data over these next two years.

Nail said the city as a whole will be pursuing more grants in the near future too, as she works to improve the city’s organization.

“There hasn’t been a balanced budget or audit here for the previous four years, so when you don’t have a balanced budget or audit, you don’t get any grants,” Nail said.