Drivers heading out for holiday shopping and partying are likely to notice more law-
enforcement officers on the roads. North Carolina’s annual “Booze It and Lose It” crackdown against drunken driving began yesterday and will run through Jan. 2.
The campaign includes local law-enforcement agencies and the N.C. Highway Patrol.
During last year’s campaign 2,266 people were charged or cited at 17 checkpoints in Forsyth County between Dec. 4, 2009, and Jan. 3, 2010.
Most citations were for minor traffic violations, but 65 charges were for driving while impaired, according to statistics from the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. There were also 140 criminal charges that stemmed from last year’s crackdown, 30 of which were felonies.
More information about specific local checkpoints will be announced in mid-December, said Chief Scott Cunningham of the Winston-Salem Police Department.
Cunningham said that a Forsyth County-wide DWI task force began operating last weekend, using three Winston-Salem officers and a sergeant focused on stopping drivers who may be impaired. A Kernersville pollice officer joined the task force Thursday, and a Forsyth County sheriff’s deputy will become a member later this month.
Safety is the message for the holiday season, Cunningham said.
“If you’ve consumed alcohol, don’t drive,” he said. “Don’t take the chance, it’s not worth it.”
The task force is paid for with a one-year grant from the state’s highway-safety program. The $780,000 grant is renewable for four years but would decrease in value every year, Cunningham said. Forsyth County agencies qualified for the grant because the county ranks in the top 10 in DWI-related wrecks, fatalities and charges.
That isn’t surprising given that the county is among the state’s largest, Cunningham said.
The grant is paying for new equipment and five new officers and a sergeant. For the police department, three officers experienced with targeting DWI offenders have joined the task force, and their positions on patrol will be taken by three new officers.
The task force will be more effective with experienced officers on it, Cunningham said.
In a press conference Wednesday, he said that the task force had already made 18 DWI arrests, two charges for reckless driving, six charges for driving while license revoked, five drug arrests, four criminal charges and 36 other traffic citations.
Most of those charges were made during stops on the major highways and roads, Cunningham said.
“On the interstates, there’s just a high prevalence,” he said.
pgarber@wsjournal.com
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