CLEARWATER POLICE TO CONDUCT WEEKEND D.U.I. "WOLFPACK"

Clearwater Police Traffic Section Officers will conduct a high-profile sobriety saturation patrol on the city's highways on Friday and Saturday nights (December 21-22), targeting impaired drivers for arrest, Clearwater Police Chief Sid Klein announced today. And - as they did last weekend (December 15) - Officers will also be patrolling for drunken motorists on New Year's Eve.

This weekend's enforcement program, planned in conjunction with the Pinellas County Community Traffic Safety Team, is aimed at reducing the number of injuries and deaths associated with drinking and driving during the end-of-the-year holidays.

The saturation "wolfpack" patrol - involving aggressive patrols and strict enforcement from one end of the city to the other - will become operational shortly after 6 p.m. each day, and is scheduled to be in place until about 4:00 a.m. Saturday and Sunday mornings.

"Historically, the December holidays herald some of the most dangerous nights for motorists to be on the highways, especially during the post-midnight hours," Clearwater Police Traffic Section Commander Lieutenant Steve Burch said. "Our intention is to reinforce the public's awareness of the dangers of impaired driving before the weekend, and then to enforce - with 'Zero Tolerance' - the drinking-and-driving laws."

Lieutenant Burch said the December 15th operation – the first in a series of four planned holiday "wolfpacks" - resulted in the arrest of nine motorists charged with Driving Under the Influence. Additionally, Officers issued 23 citations for speeding and eight for failure to use seatbelts, among the 62 tickets issued.

The Tampa Bay metropolitan region has the second-largest number of fatal traffic deaths per 100,000 residents in the nation, according to a study of government statistics released Tuesday. And the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says 264 (13.38 percent) of the 1,973 motor vehicle crashes in Clearwater in 2000 were alcohol-related (www.hsmv.state.fl.us/reports/2000appendix.pdf).

The Tampa Bay area media is encouraged to advance the information contained in this release, and is invited to chronicle the weekend's activities.

For additional details regarding the DUI saturation operation, please contact Lieutenant Steve Burch at 727-562-4162 or Public Information Officer Wayne Shelor at 727-562-4333.

/s/ SID KLEIN
Chief of Police