The Columbia Police Department arrested about 6 percent of stopped drivers for driving while intoxicated during the statewide “You Drink & Drive, You Lose” campaign Aug. 19 through Sept. 5.
CPD arrested 28 drivers on suspicion of intoxication during the enforcement period. More than half the arrests were made on Aug. 26 at the checkpoint in the 700 block of South College Avenue, according to a news release.
“The reason half of the arrests occurred on Aug. 26 was this was our primary enforcement event during the campaign,” CPD Traffic Unit Supervisor Sergeant Curtis Perkins said. “Most of our arrests do tend to be drivers under the age of 25.”
CPD has participated in many statewide campaigns against drunk driving. There are roughly five campaigns each year, all sponsored by the Missouri Division of Highway Safety. Grants provided by the division pay for police overtime salaries and saturation patrols. Last year, Columbia police arrested about 500 intoxicated drivers.
“The enforcement was effective,” Perkins said. “We also try to educate (and) inform citizens of the dangers of intoxicated driving. We also have two officers who are part of our DWI enforcement unit who do nothing but look for impaired drivers during their shift.”
Efforts to combat driving under the influence of alcohol are being implemented on MU’s campus. STRIPES is a volunteer-run organization that provides free, safe rides home to students on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights during the academic year. Additionally, the Wellness Resource Center offers various programs and resources to help students avoid the dangers of impaired driving.
“Our research shows that the vast majority of our students are not drinking and driving, and do choose to use a designated driver,” said Jessica Schlosser, a coordinator at the Wellness Resource Center. “However, it doesn’t take a large quantity of people doing it to make it a problem.”
The Wellness Resource Center, which emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility, created the CHEERS program in an effort to reward students who act as the “designated driver” for friends. Designated drivers can get free non-alcoholic drinks at many participating bars and restaurants throughout Columbia and the state of Missouri.
“My role, outside of coordinating the CHEERS program, is to put on an educational campaign encouraging our students to use a designated driver, wear a seatbelt, not text and drive, etc.,” Schlosser said. “I also coordinate an online server training program called SMART, which educates bar and restaurant servers in Columbia and around Missouri on how to serve alcohol legally and responsibly.”
The Wellness Resource Center also works with Partners in Prevention, a statewide coalition of campus prevention, student conduct and law enforcement professionals from 20 campuses across the state that works to prevent high-risk drinking and other dangerous behaviors.
“On a greater level, the entire coalition works to implement some of these services and programs, many of which have originated out of our office, on their campuses and in their communities to prevent impaired driving and high-risk drinking throughout the state,” Schlosser said.
