State Patrol winds up DWI enforcement campaign
This weekend marks the conclusion of a statewide effort to crackdown on drunk driving.
Officials with the Minnesota State Patrol say troopers have arrested more than 160 people for driving while intoxicated since the campaign began on Aug. 20. That does not include arrests made by any of the 400 other participating law enforcement agencies.
State Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske says the officers are not trying to be subtle.
"We're not hiding. We're not being shy about this. We're telling people, we're out there in force, so if you choose to drink and get behind the wheel, plan on getting arrested as well," he said.
Roeske says troopers are not just looking for drivers who swerve or speed, they're also looking for drivers who aren't wearing seat belts.
"If you get behind the wheel when you're drunk, wearing a seat belt probably isn't that much of a concern to you either. And the numbers that we've found certainly demonstrate that," said Roeske. "If you're not wearing a seat belt you can be pulled over at anytime. And we do arrest a significant amount of drunk drivers from those seat belt stops."
Roeske says last year's fall DWI crackdown campaign netted more than 1,000 arrests.
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