For further information please contact: Sergeant Dan Crain
573-368-2345
I05D07
May 14, 2007

EMPHASIS: Sobriety Checkpoint To Be Conducted In Laclede County


Captain Randy Becker, commanding officer of Troop I, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Rolla, announces troopers will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint in Laclede County during the month of May. The checkpoint will be concentrated in an area and on a particular highway where a larger number of alcohol-related traffic crashes occurred last year.
The officers conducting the checkpoint will be utilizing the mobile DWI unit referred to as the B.A.T. van (Breath Alcohol Testing van), which the Patrol received from the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Division. The van is equipped with a breath testing instrument, communications technology, radios, and other equipment and supplies related to DWI enforcement.
Captain Becker urges all motorist passing through a checkpoint to use extreme caution by slowing down, keeping their eyes on the road and vehicles ahead for any sudden stopping, and following the directions of the officers.
Captain Becker stated officers at the checkpoint will be checking operator’s licenses and looking particularly for motorist who are driving while intoxicated by alcohol or other drugs. Captain Becker went on to say, “Each year many motorists are arrested for driving while intoxicated as a result of these checkpoint operations. If just one life is saved or a needless traffic crash is prevented, then the time and effort our troopers put into these enforcement operations is well worth every minute.”
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