Sheriff's department increases enforcement for holidays
The department targets impaired drivers through patrols and education.
Published Dec. 8, 2009
This time of year, streets are soon to be clogged with snow and increased traffic enforcement by the Boone County Sheriff's Department.
The sheriff's department will be taking part in increased enforcement of impaired drivers from Dec. 7 to Dec. 13, a Boone County Sheriff's news release stated.
"We haven't just been waiting until the holiday season to stop impaired driving," Sheriff's Department Major Tom Reddin said. "This has been going on all year."
According the news release, the office will be taking part in a statewide, weeklong effort to reduce drinking and driving. Officers and deputies will be working extra shifts "with the primary mission of identifying and removing impaired drivers from the roadways," the release stated. The Missouri Department of Transportation will fund overtime pay for this.
"Officers are always looking for (impaired drivers) while on patrol anyway," Reddin said. "But this week there will be specific officers whose sole responsibility will be to find those impaired drivers."
According to the release, the sheriff's department encourages people to visit the Web site, Save Missouri Lives, to encourage people to learn about impaired driving and the consequences. The site also offers statistics of accidents and fatalities due to drinking and driving.
This year has seen 772 deaths due to impaired driving — a 12 percent decrease from 2008, the Web site stated.
"We are always pleased to hear that fatalities are down this year, but we'd love to reduce them even more," Reddin said.
Reddin said increased enforcement is sometimes enough to decrease impaired driving, but the sheriff's department is hoping to reduce numbers through education, media coverage and programs to raise public awareness of the consequences and fatalities that come from impaired driving.
"You will see saturation patrols going around this week, where officers will patrol a certain area searching for impaired drivers," Reddin said. "Another popular enforcement method is the checkpoint and you may even seen both at some points."
The department focused on the importance of group awareness of the problem.
"We are all part of the solution," the release stated. "It is never worth the risk to drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol."
