Between Aug. 17 and Sept. 3, the Columbia Police Department participated in the nationwide Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign. During the increased enforcement, 30 arrests were made, and an additional five arrests were made at a checkpoint on Aug. 24.
The various checkpoints are part of CPD’s increased crackdown on driving while intoxicated.
“The Columbia Police Department is continuing our efforts in making the streets of Columbia safer, and another checkpoint will take place this week,” the release stated.
The 35 arrests made throughout the two-week DWI initiative are more than normal for something like this, CPD Traffic Unit Sgt. Curtis Perkins said. The results represent an increase of 11 drivers from similar checkpoints conducted between May 3 and 13.
The high number of arrests can partially be attributed to the extra officers, Perkins said. In participating in the national initiative, Perkins assigned more staff to handle the increased checkpoints. Additionally, he was required to file an operational plan for the checkpoints and get it approved by the police chief. Preparing for the many checkpoints can take up to a month, Perkins said.
“There’s a lot of things that play into these checkpoints and how we go about planning them,” Perkins said. “It’s not purely picking a location — there’s a lot more to it than that.”
The department’s main goal for each checkpoint was not to harass however many people the officers saw but to ultimately keep others safe, Perkins said. CPD was able to get intoxicated drivers off the streets before an accident happened.
The idea behind the national movement is ultimately to crack down on drunk driving and end an epidemic that takes nearly 11,000 lives each year, the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over website states. It is headed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and implemented in every state across America. Conducting checkpoints like this can help change attitudes toward drinking, Perkins said.
“In the past couple years, I’ve seen a big trend of more taxis and more designated drivers,” Perkins said. “So I do believe (checkpoints) make a difference.”
But the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign is not CPD’s last effort to get drunk drivers off the streets, Perkins said.
“We’re fully aware that this was stepped-up enforcement, but at the same time we have plans in place to continue the enforcement going on,” Perkins said.
In the immediate future, CPD plans to continue its efforts to crack down on drunk driving. Its sixth checkpoint is scheduled for this week, as the release stated. A new checkpoint plan will be coming out soon, and the department doesn’t plan on slowing down, Perkins said. He said he thinks enforcing drunk driving laws and participating in campaigns like Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over can help save lives.
“Intoxicated drivers kill people – they kill innocent families, they kill themselves, they kill family and loved ones,” Perkins said. “I’ve been affected by someone I knew who was killed by an impaired driver, and I’m sure that if you polled many people you’ll find the same thing. So it’s important for (CPD officers) to enforce these things.”
