Officers from more than 200 law enforcement agencies across the state arrested more drunk drivers this holiday season than last.
Lynn Sutfin is a spokesperson for the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.
"There were 356 drunk driving arrests made on grant-funded overtime -- last year, that was about 300, so obviously that's a little bit of an increase. Also, this may be in part due to the fact that we had additional counties and agencies funded this year that were not funded last year."
In addition to the drunk-driving arrests, Sutfin says officers also made other arrests.
"I do know that they have found parole absconders, [and] large drug busts during some of these enforcement efforts. It's just the opportunity -- they make this traffic stop, and it turns into some really good police work."
Sutfin says although arrests were up, fatalities were down during the same period.
"During the 2009 holiday period, there were 10 fatalities. This year, preliminary results indicate eight. So obviously, a slight improvement over last year. Obviously, those are preliminary, there could be some other things that come in, but it looks to be an improvement over last year."
She says the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning administered federal funding to support the drunk-driving crackdown in 35 counties, including Allegan, Barry, Bay, Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, Chippewa, Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Houghton, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Marquette, Monroe, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oakland, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Tuscola, Van Burn, Washtenaw, Wayne, and Wexford.
Lynn Sutfin is a spokesperson for the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.
"There were 356 drunk driving arrests made on grant-funded overtime -- last year, that was about 300, so obviously that's a little bit of an increase. Also, this may be in part due to the fact that we had additional counties and agencies funded this year that were not funded last year."
In addition to the drunk-driving arrests, Sutfin says officers also made other arrests.
"I do know that they have found parole absconders, [and] large drug busts during some of these enforcement efforts. It's just the opportunity -- they make this traffic stop, and it turns into some really good police work."
Sutfin says although arrests were up, fatalities were down during the same period.
"During the 2009 holiday period, there were 10 fatalities. This year, preliminary results indicate eight. So obviously, a slight improvement over last year. Obviously, those are preliminary, there could be some other things that come in, but it looks to be an improvement over last year."
She says the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning administered federal funding to support the drunk-driving crackdown in 35 counties, including Allegan, Barry, Bay, Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, Chippewa, Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Houghton, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Marquette, Monroe, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oakland, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Tuscola, Van Burn, Washtenaw, Wayne, and Wexford.
