Local authorities have released details about extra patrols and enforcement conducted during the Safe Family Travel mobilization effort that coincided with this past year’s Thanksgiving holiday period.
Officers with the Dubois County Sheriff’s Department, the Indiana State Police and Jasper Police Department joined roughly 250 Hoosier law enforcement agencies to ramp up patrols for seat belt violations and impaired driving during the period of November 13th through December 6th. Overtime hours were funded by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
Jasper officers worked 42 hours of overtime and issued 11 traffic tickets, 75 speeding warnings and 79 miscellaneous traffic-related warnings.
Troopers at the Jasper post, assisted by local deputies and Jasper officers, conducted a sobriety checkpoint from 8 pm till midnight on November 20th at Portersville Road and Tealwood Drive near Jasper Middle School on the city’s northside.
Authorities say 62 vehicles were checked resulting in no arrests, however, five traffic warnings and five tickets were issued. All told, troopers from the Jasper post who cover Dubois, Spencer, Crawford, Daviess, Martin, Orange and Perry counties devoted 56 overtime hours to the Safe Family Travel campaign and, district-wide, made three impaired driving arrests one of which was a felony along with four other criminal misdemeanor arrests.
Troopers also handed out 47 traffic warnings and issued 12 tickets across the district during the blitz that ended last month.
Dubois County sheriff’s deputies worked a total of 12 overtime hours and issued four traffic tickets and 24 traffic warnings during the Safe Family Travel period.
Police who took part in the combined effort reminded motorists and passengers about the importance of buckling up. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says proper restraint use reduces the risk of fatal injury to front-seat occupants of passenger cars by 45 percent.
