This Labor Day Weekend, all Newport County Police Departments including Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth, Jamestown, Tiverton, Little Compton, and the Rhode Island State Police, in cooperation with the Rhode Island Office on Highway Safety and the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association, will be conducting enhanced DUI patrols. This campaign will start on Thursday, September 1 and continue through Labor Day until Tuesday, September 6.
According to the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration statistics, during the 2020 Labor Day Weekend, there were 530 traffic related fatalities across the United States. Of those fatalities, 46% involved a driver who had been driving under the influence. The goal of this campaign is to educate the public on the dangers of driving under the influence and to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes attributed to impaired drivers.
Departments will team up officers throughout the holiday weekend performing saturation patrols in an effort to detect impaired drivers. In addition, this DUI initiative will utilize the Providence Police Department’s Breath Alcohol Testing Mobile Unit. The B.A.T. Mobile Unit allows officers to have a centralized location to process all DUI arrests which includes the administering of breathalyzer tests. Departments will also have trained Drug Recognition Experts on hand to further evaluate drivers who may be operating while under the influence of a controlled substance other than alcohol.
Newport County Police Departments will have a strong presence on all roads throughout the holiday weekend. Police encourage members of the public to call 911 if they observe aggressive or erratic drivers.
Be Smart and Be Responsible!
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