Officers of the RCPD on the lookout for impaired drivers in days leading up to Labor Day holiday
Ahead of the Labor Day holiday, the Rapid City Police Department will participate in saturation patrols during the nationwide law enforcement mobilization campaign known as ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.’
This year, the campaign runs Wednesday, August 16th through Monday, September 4th. The RCPD will be adding officers during its standard shifts to aid in traffic enforcement and specifically be on the lookout for impaired drivers. During these saturation patrols, officers of the RCPD will also be on the lookout for speed and seatbelt violations.
“We know that an increase in alcohol consumption tends to go hand-in-hand with the timeframe surrounding holidays like Labor Day,” says James Johns, Captain of the RCPD’s Patrol Division. “With that in mind, we want to be proactive by adding extra officers to our shifts. The primary focus of these officers will be to locate impaired drivers, and get them off our streets.”
In 2016, Rapid City police made 973 DUI arrests. As of July 31st, the RCPD had made 584 arrests in 2017.
The campaign is a nationwide effort coordinated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and spearheaded locally by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Highway Safety. For more information, visit www.nhtsa.gov.